Ireth
Myth Weaver
I have a question with regards to the vampires in my mythos. Many of them, especially the oldest ones, have been physically corrupted as a direct result of drinking human blood: this corruption manifests mainly by giving the vampires batlike wings, which grow out when the vampires are exposed to direct sunlight. The wings grow out from the vampires' shoulderblades, like in popular depictions of angels or demons, rather than the arms themselves morphing into wings. The older or more corrupt the vampires are (i.e. the more human blood they've drunk in their lifetime), the larger and stronger their wings are, to a certain point. Some of them have even achieved the power of sustained flight, and I'm interested in the biology of how this might work.
By looking at diagrams of bats and their wings, and then adjusting the measurements for a human, I've gathered that the ratio of person's height to wingspan should be roughly between 1:2.5 and 1:3, meaning that a vampire who's six feet tall would have a 15 to 18-foot wingspan at the state required for flight. Of course, then there are adjustments I need to make for differences in anatomy between bats and humans, mainly the lack of tails and thus the possible need for differences in location of parts of the membrane. Is there anything else, like body weight or bone mass that I should be thinking about as well?
By looking at diagrams of bats and their wings, and then adjusting the measurements for a human, I've gathered that the ratio of person's height to wingspan should be roughly between 1:2.5 and 1:3, meaning that a vampire who's six feet tall would have a 15 to 18-foot wingspan at the state required for flight. Of course, then there are adjustments I need to make for differences in anatomy between bats and humans, mainly the lack of tails and thus the possible need for differences in location of parts of the membrane. Is there anything else, like body weight or bone mass that I should be thinking about as well?