Dear RG community,

I am looking at the limits of ACTIVE flight of various animals.

I am only interested in animals that are capable of active flight. Active flight (also called powered flight) is a type of animal flight that uses muscles to generate aerodynamic force that is sufficient to generate enough lift and thrust. So no flying fish, no frogs that jump from the treetops and use membranes between their fingers to controllably parachute and fall-down, and no flying squirrels etc. Such examples do not count as active flight under the above definition of active flight.

I am interested in limits of ACTIVE flight of the following animal groups:

a) insects

b) birds

c) reptiles (extinct, like pterosaurus)

d) mammals

I am particularly interested in the data on the following:

1). Maximum Altitude (km) a given flying animal was observed

2). Longest Travel Distance (km) - I intend it to be only continuous flight, from initial take off to landing (i.e. without landing and resuming flight afterwards for the second time), otherwise a lot of organisms essentially have no limit to distance.

3). Maximum Speed Observed (but it is less critical)

If any of you know papers or studies that show such limits for example organisms of insects, birds, extinct reptiles and mammals please let me know.

Thank you very much for your help, time and consideration.

JJ