Why did animals evolve wings and fly? What was the advantage?
Gliding is advantageous because if an animal has to climb down a tree, walk or run along the ground, and then climb back up another tree, it would cost a lot more energy than if the same animal were to glide to the next tree. It is also safer to do so because of the presence of ground predators. Accordingly, many animals have evolved gliding. Active flight is much rarer than gliding, but flight probably evolved by animals that glided. Flying is a way to extend the distance that a gliding animal can travel, Flying allows an animal to escape enemies that cannot fly, and it allows an animal to travel across inhospitable terrain, such as large bodies of water and it also allows an animal to look for food over a wider area. It also allows an animal to migrate long distances within a short period of time and to quickly fly another area that may have food if food should run out locally.
