As to Marky's last paste - the argument that wings must denote flight is an entirely strawman argument, and the claim that Balrogs have no evolutionary ancestors mean that wings cannot have lost use through evolutionary progression is sheer pedantry.
If someone wrote a work of fantasy that denotes a creature had wings, it states simply that. Trying to then extrapolate the nature of such a construct referencing real world examples is extremely flawed, because you're effectively dealing with two different sets of mechanics - real world; fantasy world.
Otherwise it's like arguing that Bilbo's sword couldn't be magical and glow because there are no magical glowing swords in the real world - excepting ones that are perhaps heavily radioactive.
It seems like Arda is more interested in promoting a single person's viewpoint, rather than a real attempt at objective appraisal or group consensus. Some might call it link-baiting by creating controversy.
