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Hereditas(Beijing) ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (1): 46-58.doi: 10.16288/j.yczz.31-339

• Orginal Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Progresses on adaptive evolution of gliding and flying ability in mammals

Shanshan Gao(), Jinliang Li, Jiani Yang, Tong Zhou, Rui Liu, Xiaoping Wang(), Li Yu()   

  1. State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
  • Received:2021-09-26 Revised:2021-11-22 Online:2022-01-20 Published:2022-01-25
  • Contact: Wang Xiaoping,Yu Li E-mail:gaoss961210@163.com;wangxp@ynu.edu.cn;yuli@ynu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Nos(31760619);Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Nos(31925006);Applied Basic Research General Project of Yunnan Science and Technology Department(202001BB050058);Yunnan University's Research Innovation Fund for Graduate Students No(2020249)

Abstract:

The adaptive evolution of locomotion forms is closely related to living behaviors such as predation, defense, reproduction and communication. Diverse forms of mammalian locomotion play an important role in the occupation of new habitats and the acquisition of new resources. The gliding and flying ability of mammals are special locomotion forms to adapt to the environment, which is a classical model of adaptive evolution study. In order to adapt to survival, the gliding and flying mammals have undergone a series of adaptive changes in morphology, physiology and behavior. In recent years, with the increasing development of high-throughput sequencing technologies such as genome and transcriptome, adaptive evolution research has entered the era of omics, which can more systematically and comprehensively reveal the molecular basis behind adaptive evolution. In this review, we summarize the origin and adaptive morphological characteristics of mammalian gliding and flight ability, including the evolution of patagium and limbs, as well as the physiological characteristics and molecular mechanisms of energy metabolism. This review is expected to provide a theoretical basis for future studies of the molecular mechanism of adaptive evolution of mammalian locomotion. In addition, the challenging questions and future research directions of these mammals are outlined as well.

Key words: mammals, flying, gliding, adaptive evolution, molecular mechanism