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mernolan — Winged Humanoid: Part 2
Published: 2011-01-05 19:38:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 45197; Favourites: 1138; Downloads: 783
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Description
Part I |Part II|Part III |Part IVEDIT 2013: KEEPING THESE THINGS UPDATED IS QUITE A CHORE but I've long since done other studies since 2011
mernolan.tumblr.com/post/53441…
24.media.tumblr.com/43808b5b87…
EDIT: 1. I've looked into pterosaur anatomy and stuff, I wouldn't really expect a completely new tutorial, but I can tell you I understand a little of it. 2. I apologize for saying that bats are less adequate, that's not entirely what I meant, bad wording on my part. They're just different from birds is all
Skeletal and Muscular Systems
Decided to go through this with feathered wings because (personally) I think they are more difficult to attach to the body and I'm aware that the wing to body proportions are not quite right: the wings would probably be longer and DEFINITELY more muscle on the back and chest IN FACT HOW ABOUT YOU JUST DRAW A BIRD INSTEAD :'D
Other's Theories:
Simple and Practical: auroracarina-chan.deviantart.c…
Also good info: arourallis.deviantart.com/art/… my only issue is the size of the shoulder blade and where are the pectorals and collar bones going?
Shakusan: ara-tun.deviantart.com/art/Sha… ara-tun.deviantart.com/art/Sha… ara-tun.deviantart.com/art/Sha…
Anatomy References:
Human: www.ironmaden.g-21.com/Anatomy… onlineworkshops.ca/images/sn_i…
Bat:www.csus.edu/indiv/L/lancaster… (if anyone has anything on anterior bat muscles show me!)
Bird: www.yuccalofts.com/wp-content/… www.learner.org/jnorth/images/… www.rexresearch.com/ornithopte… www.hsu.edu/uploadedImages/Bio… people.eku.edu/ritchisong/554i… (I couldn't find anything on posterior wing muscles
)Wings:
Bat/Dragon: browse.deviantart.com/?qh= §ion=&global=1&q=bat+wing+muscles#/d1ttpzw
General Bird Info: cedarseed.deviantart.com/art/D…
Bird Wings: cedarseed.deviantart.com/art/D…
Related content
Comments: 85
I didn't think you were calling me out at all! Disagreeing with an idea is fine. I did try to think about how everything would move, and there are some things I would go back and change, like the profile muscle view. Thank you for replying though
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ooh this is a really awesome tutorial <3
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Bat's have different muscle attachment than birds, they don't have the enlarged "keel" bone, but rather the muscles are attached to an extended bone along their spine, so the other way around than birds! I think this could work for flying humanoids, and also it's a bit unfair to say bats aren't as efficient fliers as birds, they fly in a completely different way and are in some ways even more efficient! [link]
Someone mentioned pterosaurs earlier, their flight is very interesting too, sort of like a combination of bird-like and bat-like flight. Their wings were masterful pieces of equipment, made up of three major layers; strengthening fibres, a muscle layer and a layer with many blood vessels to serve the muscles. This meant that unlike bats, they could change the shape of the flight surface of the wing itself, making them even more efficient and specialised for flight.
Flight really is an interesting subject, I really should research more. I was thinking of coming up with my own way of connecting wings to a humanoid, but your guide is really interesting and useful!
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I couldn't believe how difficult it was to find information about bat muscle anatomy on the internet D: which is mainly why I didn't focus too much on them. Good point about bats flying differently 
If I were to do this tutorial again (which is possible!) I would definitely want to look more into pterosaurs and bats c:
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That'd be pretty awesome! To be honest, I don't know all that much about bat muscle anatomy, we had a brief mention of it in a lecture about pterosaur flight and how they differ from birds and bats, really fascinating!
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aaaaugh internet y u no have moar information on bat and pterosaur anatomy
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I'm all curious now, gonna see if I can find any pages which aren't in-depth papers. Prepare for incoming link spam...
Alrighty!
Pterosaurs: [link] Really good page, the rest of the website looks lovely too!
Another page from the same site: [link] can see the musculature more clearly in the mouse-over picture thing.
Bats:
Basic wing anatomy: [link]
[link]
[link]
The image you showed of the bat musculature is the best I can find at the moment, but it does show how the flight muscles are attached to a protrusion of the spine as well as the middle of their chest like a keel bone.
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thanks! 
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That's okay! No hurry at all, it's been an interesting learning exercise looking this stuff up! I'm going to have to apply this to my characters!
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i can be an extremely obsessive researcher... sometimes xD good luck with your characters c:
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Wow! This is so detailed, and very useful, thank-you!
Great work
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thanks! c: It's so hard to find references for this kind of thing D:
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Now this is helpful. I can't tell you how much this helps me out! Thanks for doing this.
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wow : o . . .
this is so darn chock full of info
this is totally useful ^^ thanks for making this!
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So going to use this as a reference in the future.
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There was something I noticed while trying to attach wings to quadrupeds: some, like cats, dogs, and horses don't really have a clavicle or have a very tiny one, and therefore also have a kind of floating scapula that can move around easily. That would have been my anatomical way out but your human/bird combo is way better.
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I haven't really looked too much into the technicalities of winged quadrupeds yet, but there is probably a reason why they don't have large clavicles, I would find that out and see what you can do with that information (I have a feeling it has to do with articulation). Attaching wings to quadrupeds would be easier I think because they don't have a broad chest to work around and arms. They would still need clavicle/coracoid for the wings, you could probably put the wings slightly behind the front legs, and there is plenty of room for muscle: the pectoral would probably wrap around behind the front legs to the chest. That's just my guess.
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Bats are less adequate flyers than avians, but there are other flying creatures beside these two groups. Pterosaurs for instance, they also had wings set more like human arms but they were masterful flyers, some scientists think even more so than birds. Most likely due to the advanced flight systems they had, which are different from that of any living creature today. I only mention this because most people seem to forget about them, and they seem the better thing to base the wings of fantasy creatures off of. At least, I've stopped comparing my dragons to bats and have started looking at these ancient flying reptiles instead.
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oh yeah! I forgot about them too xD I will look into pterosaurs in the future perhaps, but I wanted to work with bats and birds because I think most people tend to go with either option
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lol yes, nobody cares about the poor forgotten pterosaurs
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But birds aren't people 
I personally go for a bat-like (if a bit... plump) bone structure with feathers... I guess it makes uppercutting someone easier, too.
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I didn't want to go into all the other wing variations, but I don't see why you can't have feathery bat wings xD Bat wings would probably work better on the human body anyways since they are 'closer' to arms
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Would also work better with body language (I am a sucker for that :3)
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