New Research on Pterosaur Flight

Galvasean

One thing which stood out for me was that the maximum size of giant pterosaurs has been scaled back to 10-11 metre wingspan and a weight of 200-250kg (previous estimates speculated up to 14 metres and over 500kgs respectively).
Other main points include:
- Pterosaurs were more awkward fliers than birds
- They were also quite slow by comparison
- However, they were extremely energy efficient
- They appear to have been able to 'pole vault' for takeoff.

PLoS ONE's official press release here. (It's a big read but worth it if you have the time)
Discovery Channel's coverage here.
Even The Sun tabloid newspaper has gotten wind of it! (please note that pterosaurs were not actually dinosaurs)



Out of curiosity, I'm running a poll to see which of the three articles I linked to peope liked the most. It's anonymous so no one will be judged on their preference.

Galvasean

I see I'm not the only one who gets annoyed when pterosaurs are called dinosaurs :cool:
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2010/11/18/why-a-pterosaur-is-not-a-dinosaur/

Yitzhak Rabin

In your pic there. The larger dinosaur ( ), what would the purpose of him having wings be? He obviously wouldn't be able to glide, let alone fly with them, so what were they for?

edit: just read the article. Apparently they could fly "The retention of flight characteristics across giant pterosaur skeletons and their considerable robustness compared to similarly-massed terrestrial animals suggest that giant pterosaurs were not flightless"

So the picture must be inaccurate? There is no way that guy could fly!!

Galvasean

yekahs wrote: »

In your pic there. The larger dinosaur ( ), what would the purpose of him having wings be? He obviously wouldn't be able to glide, let alone fly with them, so what were they for?

The theory was that certain massive pterosaurs spent so much time on the ground that they evolvd beyond the need for flight, hunting on the ground instead. It always seemed a tad bit strange to me when you consider what would happen when one of these fragile bodied flightless pterosaurs encountered a hungry tyrannosaur or a mob of determined dromaeosaurs (raptors)? With no means of escape and lacking in serious weaponry it'd be fairly doomed!

yekahs wrote: »

So the picture must be inaccurate? There is no way that guy could fly!!

I think the picture is slightly wonky. His head/neck looks bigger because they're going for the '3D effect' that seems popular in dinosaur books (particularly ones for children) these days. Unfortunately on a 2D screen (or indeed page) the effect is lost and we are left with wonky looking dinosaurs creatures.

I did find one of the comments from The Sun giggle-worthy:
"So all these skeletons of winged dinosaurs could fly, that's amazing, fancy that. Luckily these geniuses were there to explain how they flew with their wings.
Apparently, there's a theory that some of the dinosaur skeletons that have been found to have legs may possibly have used them for walking, we're just waiting for a room full of spotty virgins to confirm it"

Kess73

Galvasean wrote: »

The theory was that certain massive pterosaurs spent so much time on the ground that they evolvd beyond the need for flight, hunting on the ground instead. It always seemed a tad bit strange to me when you consider what would happen when one of these fragile bodied flightless pterosaurs encountered a hungry tyrannosaur or a mob of determined dromaeosaurs (raptors)? With no means of escape and lacking in serious weaponry it'd be fairly doomed!



I think the picture is slightly wonky. His head/neck looks bigger because they're going for the '3D effect' that seems popular in dinosaur books (particularly ones for children) these days. Unfortunately on a 2D screen (or indeed page) the effect is lost and we are left with wonky looking dinosaurs creatures.

I did find one of the comments from The Sun giggle-worthy:
"So all these skeletons of winged dinosaurs could fly, that's amazing, fancy that. Luckily these geniuses were there to explain how they flew with their wings.
Apparently, there's a theory that some of the dinosaur skeletons that have been found to have legs may possibly have used them for walking, we're just waiting for a room full of spotty virgins to confirm it"

But you are not spotty.

Rubecula

Well we do have giant flightless birds, (Ostrich, Emu etc) so they may have evolved to NOT fly. That does not mean they were easy prey for other creatures though. They may have had few predators where they lived for example.

Galvasean

ostriches and emus are quick though. They can avoid most predators. A ground based pterosaur would be quite slow and awkward (not tomention very light in frame).

Galvasean

Galvasean wrote: »

Ostriches and emus are quick though. They can avoid most predators. A ground based pterosaur would be quite slow and awkward (not tomention very light in frame).

I should have elaborated and said that, as far as best research indicates, ostriches and emus etc. evolved from smaller creatures. This allowed them to evolve into larger speedier creatures. A hypothetical flightless giant pterosaur would have evolved from massive (but extremely lightly built) and awkward (ie: slow on the ground) flying forms. Such a creature would be extremely vunerable having evolved to lose it's best means of defense (flight).

edit:
Just for fun, here is an article on what flighless pterosaurs would look like had they survived the K-T event and had a chance to evolve further.


For those interested in cryptozoology, a piece on pterosaurs in modern times:
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/12/pterosaurs_alive.php

Rubecula

Very Giraffe like.

To be honest, my point is that evolution would not allow them to exist if they had no survival traits. So they must have had something going for them. My thought was that they evolved in a place where the predators could not get to them, or at least get to them in substantial numbers.

I don't know, merely surmising.

Galvasean

Rubecula wrote: »

To be honest, my point is that evolution would not allow them to exist if they had no survival traits. So they must have had something going for them.

Well, if the latest research is correct the flightless giant ptersaurs simply did not evolve and they actually could fly. So in essense their big advantage was the ability to fly.