Limyaael
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I wonder if pterosaur wings are possible for a humanoid species, considering how big most of them were. But if the humanoid species was a kind of two-legged reptile, then it might work better with the body.
"...considering how big most of them were."
If that refers to pterosaurs, I don't know if "most" of them were big (or what counts as big at all), but it's certain many of them (especially the earlier forms) were in fact pretty small. Anurognathids were in the wingspan range of modern-day swifts, and AFAIK a typical Triassic or Jurassic pterosaur didn't grow larger than seagull-size. If the "most of them" refers to pterosaur wings, well, they weren't big for the size of the creatures that had them (though I did get the - possibly biased - impression that most of them were long and narrow like swift wings). I don't have size issues with wings, but the question of flight muscles is a problem, and I'd heavily frown upon any flying humanoid without either magic or appropriate musculature to explain its capabilities.
You do need considerable wing area to make a human-sized body fly without magic, though. The heaviest modern fliers (I think the title goes to the great bustard, Otis tarda) are not more than 20 or so kg and a wingspan of well over 2 m belongs to that weight, and that's a bird with, well, bird wings, and quite broad ones at that. For typical narrow pterosaur wings I'm sure you'd need a longer wingspan - like, Pteranodon had the same estimated weight and up to 9-10 m of wings. Obviously any human-sized flier (not saying that winged humanoids can't be any other size) would need HUGE wings (of any type) and HUGE flight muscles to take off. And possibly either (a) take-off points like cliffs and stuff, or (b) strong legs for a run-up or a big jump.
Oh, by the way, here is a nice little introduction to the three different wing structures used by known vertebrates.
If that refers to pterosaurs, I don't know if "most" of them were big (or what counts as big at all), but it's certain many of them (especially the earlier forms) were in fact pretty small. Anurognathids were in the wingspan range of modern-day swifts, and AFAIK a typical Triassic or Jurassic pterosaur didn't grow larger than seagull-size. If the "most of them" refers to pterosaur wings, well, they weren't big for the size of the creatures that had them (though I did get the - possibly biased - impression that most of them were long and narrow like swift wings). I don't have size issues with wings, but the question of flight muscles is a problem, and I'd heavily frown upon any flying humanoid without either magic or appropriate musculature to explain its capabilities.
You do need considerable wing area to make a human-sized body fly without magic, though. The heaviest modern fliers (I think the title goes to the great bustard, Otis tarda) are not more than 20 or so kg and a wingspan of well over 2 m belongs to that weight, and that's a bird with, well, bird wings, and quite broad ones at that. For typical narrow pterosaur wings I'm sure you'd need a longer wingspan - like, Pteranodon had the same estimated weight and up to 9-10 m of wings. Obviously any human-sized flier (not saying that winged humanoids can't be any other size) would need HUGE wings (of any type) and HUGE flight muscles to take off. And possibly either (a) take-off points like cliffs and stuff, or (b) strong legs for a run-up or a big jump.
Oh, by the way, here is a nice little introduction to the three different wing structures used by known vertebrates.
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I had considerable difficulty trying to figure out how to exactly get my human-sized fliers into air on laws of physics alone. I think I ended up with a 5m wingspan which barely folded on their backs. It was then actually rather interesting to figure on their mindsets and cultures from then on - they feared forests as there they could neither land nor take off, they lived in the cliffs where they could jump in order to take off... rather fun actually.