What if pterosaurs were still alive?

Adam Khor

This is a two part article about what things would be like if pterosaurs (or rather, azhdarchids and nyctosaurs, the only groups known to have been present at the very end of the Cretaceous) had never gone extinct.





http://io9.com/5909172/what-would-life-be-like-if-pterosaurs-were-alive-today?tag=paleontology

http://io9.com/5909528/what-would-the-world-be-like-if-pterosaurs-and-humans-coexisted-today-part-ii?tag=paleontology

This is easily one of the most entertaining and interesting articles I've read in a while- by none other than one of the world's leading experts on pterosaurs, Mark Witton. (We owe these fantastic pictures of the new-look azhdarchids to him- the creepy Hatzegopteryx in Planet Dinosaur too).

Rubecula

My own opinion is that birds would be a lot less varied simply because pterosaurs were thought to be much more accomplished at flying. Birds would (generally speaking) be out competed in many niches.

Galvasean

Riding an azhdarchid in the wild wild west? Sign me up!