# Also in the Article

Data collection: Static morphology
This protocol is extracted from research article:
Range of motion in the avian wing is strongly associated with flight behavior and body mass

Procedure

For each wing, the following linear measurements or discrete counts of static morphology were recorded (definitions in parentheses): humeral, ulnar, and carpometacarpal length (linear distance in millimeters between points 1 and 2, 2 and 3, and 3 and 4, respectively); static wing length (linear distance in millimeters between point 1 and the distalmost tip of the wing when held at full extension, measured perpendicular to the root chord of the wing); and primary and secondary feather counts (numerical counts; primary feathers, remiges located on the hand-wing; and secondary feathers, remiges located on the arm-wing).

Measures of wing shape, wing area, and wing aspect ratio (data S1) were each computed in 2D from video recordings from the “top-down view” camera only. “Static” wing shape (the shape of the wing at maximum extension of the elbow and manus) was determined by first finding the video frame in which both elbow and manus angle were maximized and then using the Freehand Selection tool in ImageJ v1.5 (48) to create a selection that included all components of the wing. This selection was first used to compute static wing area (in square millimeters). Each of these selections was then imported into R and converted into a closed outline (Coe) object using the Momocs package (12) for further analyses of wing shape (see the next section). Measures of wing area and wing length were also captured for every frame of the videos in which coupling of the elbow and manus was assessed. Again, using the Freehand Selection tool, a selection that included all components of the wing was first created and then used to compute wing area in square millimeters. The length of the wing was calculated as the longest possible line from the distalmost portion of the wing perpendicular to the wing root. Aspect ratio was then calculated as$Wing AR=b2S$where b was twice the length of the wing, and S was the 2D wing area.

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