Early illustrations of Maxwell's demons suggested the creatures were part of the Pteroprimiforme genus, closely related to the flying monkeys famous for their role in the Wizard of Oz. However, more recent observations and images reveal the creatures are decidedly more limbless, rendering the old classification obsolete. Currently the phylogeny of the demons is highly contentious. Some researchers place them in the same clade as the hole-boring spacetime worms and plot worms on the basis of their morphology and association with supernatural gaps. An equally vocal group see this apparent similarity as a case of convergent evolution and place the Maxwell's demons firmly with the gateway guardians, along with the more common lions and spirit dogs. The Maxwell's deomons' divergent appearance, they argue, is due to the entrophic elemental alignment of the species. Genetic data is inconclusive due to the difficulties gathering genetic data from hole-boring worms and the large quantities of genomes misidentified as Maxwell's demons that actually came from unstable shapeshifters (a problem with many genetic analyses, but most common with entropic species).
The current understanding is that Maxwell's demons lack any form of wing or gliding surface. So how does a Maxwell's demon remain airborne? Is this a mistake? A legacy from when they were believed to have wings? Not at all! Maxwell's demons use their signature ability to remain airborne. Not the more potent threat of paradoxing dangerous creatures into nothing, but the one that first earned them their name and drew the mathematician Maxwell to study them.
Maxwell's demons were originally popularised for their ability to sort warmer-than-average particles one direction and cooler-than-average particles another way with little to no expenditure of energy. In captivity, they often use this in doorways to alter the temperatures of adjacent rooms to their owners' enjoyment (or chagrin), but in the wild, Maxwell's demons use this same skill to direct warm air up over their backs and cool air down under their bellies. The slower-moving cold air becomes denser while the fast-moving hot air whips past the demon and leaves a low pressure area, creating the lift the demon needs to keep off the ground. The demon propels itself and steers with a combination of undulating its long body and subtly rotating the planes of its hot/cold sorting.
Observations in a smoke chamber suggest that sufficient quantities of spiderwebs can disrupt a Maxwell's demon's ability to sort air by creating numerous 'chambers' into which the demon must sort the particles, overwhelming its ability to quickly sort the molecules. This forces the demon to land. However, the sorting ability remains and a strong draft or jet stream can blow the webs off, allowing the demon to return to the air.
Further research is required on the physiological adaptations of the Maxwell's demons to the microclimates they create. Do they have different insulatory properties on their backs and undersides? Do they recoup energy directly from the heat descending through their bodies? Further research could facilitate the development of new and more efficient infinite energy power cores.