SCORCHING the air from next year, the Eurofighter Typhoon jet will make use of a delta-wing construction to give it high speed and manoeuvrability. Rewind some 225 million years and peer into the forests of what is now Kyrgyzstan and you might have seen a lizard flying with the same wing configuration – though admittedly not at supersonic speeds.
All other flying vertebrates, from birds to flying squirrels, have wings attached to their forelimbs. According to a new reconstruction, however, this extinct reptile’s main wings were attached only to the hind limbs, giving it a delta-wing profile.
The lizard (Sharovipteryx mirabilis…
