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The Flying Reptile Thread- Anything pterosaur related

2

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Technology reveals pterosaur's hidden soft parts, confirms early theories

    When a German paleontologist described the Jurassic pterosaur Scaphognathus, he suggested it was covered on some sort of fur, and drew the first life reconstruction of a prehistoric animal in its environment, but his work was largely ignored. Now technology confirms what he saw back in 1831:

    https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2018/2308-scaphognathus-in-rti-and-uv

    4.+Scaphognathus+fossil+cast.jpg


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,173 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    The right Mark 1 Human Eyeball can still be an extremely accurate and valuable tool. The drawing made all those years ago looks remarkably accurate even today.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    New Coloborhynchus species from the Kem Kem fossil site

    This is one of the known Spinosaurus fossil sites. Coloborhynchus is very similar to Tropeognathus, and it may be that they are really the same genus. This is the pterosaur made famous by Walking with Dinosaurs, and the largest toothed pterosaur known; some species such as T. messembrinus reached a wingspan of over 8 meters, being as large or larger than Pteranodon itself, and smaller only than azhdarchids such as Quetzalcoatlus.

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118303549

    Coloborhynchus.JPG

    1-areplicaofth.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Pterosaur trackway found in Poland. Apparently the trackmakers were large for Jurassic standards.

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018218310162

    ki3cany0bndlxwb6nv3b.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Baby pterosaurs could fly from birth

    Unlike the vast majority of birds, it appears at least some pterosaurs were on their own from the moment they hatched.

    https://www.heritagedaily.com/2019/06/baby-pterodactyls-could-fly-from-birth/123960

    nemicolopterus_chris-masnaghetti.png?w=2000&fm=jpg&auto=compress


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Seazzadactylus, a new Triassic pterosaur. Unusual teeth apparently.

    https://peerj.com/articles/7363/

    fig-7-1x.jpg


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    Is the a threshold of weight to length of wingspan for flying reptiles? Wing composition a factor too (feathers? Or?). Shorter wingspans don't fly.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Fathom wrote: »
    Is the a threshold of weight to length of wingspan for flying reptiles? Wing composition a factor too (feathers? Or?). Shorter wingspans don't fly.

    There has been much debate about the limits of pterosaur size/flight ability. There was a time, for example, when the iconic Pteranodon (with a wingspan of about 7 m) was believed to be the absolute limit for any flying creature.

    large_naturalhistory1920_pteranodon.jpg

    Even then, there were plenty of scientists who refused to believe such an enormous animal was capable of powered flight; instead, they suggested that it would only glide by throwing itself from high cliffs, and that it would use the small claws on its wings to climb back up.

    Pteranodon was discovered in 1870 (being not only the largest pterosaur found at the time, but also the first found outside of Europe, and the first one known to have been toothless). It remained the largest known flying creature until 1971, when an even bigger pterosaur was found in Texas:

    q-wing05.jpg

    This one was named Quetzalcoatlus and assumed to have similar proportions to Pteranodon, which gave it a wingspan of 12-15 m. So Pteranodon was apparently not the upper limit for flying animals after all.

    Quetzalcoatlus also posed an interesting puzzle. Pteranodon was thought to glide over sea currents like an albatross, and it was believed that these very particular conditions were what had allowed it to become so large. But Quetzalcoatlus came from inland deposits away from the sea, so this was an animal that flew over vast plains and forests, and presumably the terrain here was flat so, there were no cliffs to jump from.

    It also seemed rather unlikely that a pterosaur this size would survive among the likes of Tyrannosaurus rex without being able to take off from the ground. Scientists then suggested that Quetzalcoatlus was probably a scavenger that fed on the scraps of giant theropod's kills- like a giant vulture, despite the fact that it had a long, straight, edentulous jaw that didn´t seem particularly well suited for dealing with large carcasses.

    As time went on, more complete remains of Quetzalcoatlus-like pterosaurs were found around the world, allowing for a better understanding of its anatomy. It turns out, Quetzalcoatlus was part of a family- known as the azhdarchids ("dragons"), which had proportionally short wings, incredibly elongated necks and huge heads, and were seemingly better suited for walking and perhaps even running on the ground than other pterosaurs. Pteranodon, for example, with its tiny hind legs and extremely long wings, would've been capable but not particularly agile on the ground. Quetzalcoatlus and its azhdarchid kin however seemed well prepared for a mostly terrestrial lifestyle.

    71uXaqHo9eL._SY450_.jpg

    This has led to our current concept of azhdarchids as predators of small to medium-sized prey, caught not on the wing but by walking, like modern day marabou storks or ground hornbills. The relatively short wings and very long neck and beak do resemble those of said birds.

    Naturally some paleontologists have expressed doubts that such weirdly proportioned giants were flyers at all, but they are a minority. The fact that the pterosaurs coexisted with the likes of tyrannosaurs and dromeosaurs, and that azhdarchids were found all across the globe (including places that were islands during the Cretaceous), does suggest that they must have been able to fly, even if they spend the majority of their time on the ground.

    Life_restoration_of_a_group_of_giant_azhdarchids%2C_Quetzalcoatlus_northropi%2C_foraging_on_a_Cretaceous_fern_prairie.png

    Of course, the relatively short wing model means that even Quetzalcoatlus has been downsized from 12-15 m to about 9-11 m. Even then, it and other giant azhdarchids currently have no rivals among flying creatures.

    quetzalcoatlus-size.jpg

    I personally don´t think there's anything weird about azhdarchids being able to fly even with those strange proportions. Many birds today have such huge heads and necks that you wouldn´t think, by looking at their skeletons, that they would be able to fly, yet we see them do it all the time.

    172413-694-1000.jpg

    default.jpg

    I think maybe weight would be a more important factor when limiting the flying capabilities of giant pterosaurs. Despite its great size, Quetzalcoatlus had relatively light bones. Its weight is estimated at about 200-250 kg, which is a very large animal in absolute terms, but paperweight when you consider it would be about the size of a giraffe when standing on all fours. An adult giraffe can weigh over 1 ton.

    aHR0cDovL3d3dy5saXZlc2NpZW5jZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzAxNy84MDkvb3JpZ2luYWwvUXVldHotZ2lyYWZmZS0xMTA3MDYuSlBH

    On the other hand, some fragmentary remains from Romania seemingly come from much more robust azhdarchids. Since Romania was an island back then- known as Hateg island- populated by dwarved versions of mainland dinosaurs, and these giant azhdarchids are believed to have been the apex predators in such island, there is a possibility that they were flightless or nearly fightless, since they would face presumably no competition or threat from giant theropods, and there would be no need to fly anymore. But we need more complete skeletons to be sure.

    Until now, no pterosaur has been confirmed as flightless.

    As for wing composition, pterosaurs did not have feathers (or at least, flight feathers); their wings were composed by a single elongated digit (equivalent to our pinky), and a membrane of skin and muscle and other components (including unique fibres for strengthening and support, and a copious network of blood vessels). In some pterosaurs, even the respiratory system seemingly extended its air sacs into the wing membranes. Overall, the wing structure of all pterosaurs known thus far seems pretty consistent.

    So they weren´t like bird wings at all, and they were a lot more complex structurally than the simple kite-like structure imagined by early paleontologists.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional Midlands Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators, Regional North Mods, Regional West Moderators, Regional South East Moderators, Regional North East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 9,300 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    Giant pterosaurs. Wow! Picture a 1000 words.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Iberodactylus, a new crested pterosaur from the early Cretaceous

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41280-4

    Iberodactylus_andreui-novataxa_2019-Holgado_P%25C3%25AAgas_Canudo_et-al--%2540pterosaurios-paleoArt_%2540metazoastudio.jpg


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional Midlands Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators, Regional North Mods, Regional West Moderators, Regional South East Moderators, Regional North East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 9,300 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    Iberodactylus, a new crested pterosaur from the early Cretaceous. Why crest? Evolutionary advantage?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Fathom wrote: »
    Iberodactylus, a new crested pterosaur from the early Cretaceous. Why crest? Evolutionary advantage?

    It appears that sexual selection may be behind the crests. Again, Pteranodon was the first crested pterosaur ever discovered, and it was believed at first that the crest served as a sort of rudder; that by turning its head to one side or the other, the animal could alter its course while gliding (this was before Pteranodon was considered capable of powered flight.

    Leaving the physics aside, there is a very big problem with this interpretation; adult Pteranodon specimens come in two very distinct morphs. There's the large-sized morph with a large crest and narrow hips, and there's the small-sized morph with a small, round crest and wide hips.

    pteranodon-size.jpg

    (Image below shows a female Pteranodon skull, on top, and skulls of male Pteranodon longiceps and Pteranodon sternbergi).

    Pteranodon_skulls.jpg

    It seems reasonable to assume that the small, short-crested ones were females, considering they would've needed wider hips to lay their eggs, and that this morph is twice as abundant as the large crested, narrow hipped one.

    So it is obvious that the crest was not a vital flight instrument, but rather a secondary sexual trait. Nowadays, it is believed that Pteranodon were polygynous, with one single male having a small harem of females, as in today's seals and sea lions, and that they would use their superior size and showy crest not only to attract these females, but also to intimidate potential rivals.

    800wm

    This contradicts the popular image, ingrained in our minds by movies and cartoons, of Pteranodon nesting, eagle-style, on top of a mountain or cliff, either as a monogamous pair or just the female. They were socially more complex than that.

    It was once believed that crests were a rare thing, found only among some advanced pterodactyls (short-tailed, advanced pterosaurs), but more and more crested pterosaurs have been discovered since, and even some that were originally thought to be crestless, like group-namer Pterodactylus, were found upon closer analysis to have crests made of softer material.

    Pterodactylus_BMMS7_life.png

    Moreover, crested pterosaurs from the Triassic have now been found, so it seems like crests were actually a frequent characteristic. One can imagine the earlier pterosaurs using their (likely brightly colored) crests like an Anolis lizard uses its colorful dewlap, and that sort of display becoming more elaborate along with their social behavior in many pterosaur groups.

    CdJbhCtWEAEVv5T.jpg

    The most spectacular crests do come from Cretaceous pterodactyls, however, such as Tapejara imperator (aka Tupandactylus):

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRolgds-sVAdc7c-_nBQYvEtKtQyN2UwUJklT4vZdbSgiVOg8cogQ

    Or the thalassodromids like Thalassodromeus proper and Tupuxuara:

    340?cb=20120705065709&path-prefix=es

    Or the bizarre Nyctosaurus, a relative and contemporary of Pteranodon, which was once thought to use its crest as a sail, quite literally.

    conway0.jpg


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional Midlands Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators, Regional North Mods, Regional West Moderators, Regional South East Moderators, Regional North East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 9,300 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Fathom wrote: »

    Relevant to the video's subject, here's an interesting read about giant pterosaur flight ability:

    https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0013982
    Our flight range estimates suggest large pterosaurs were likely able to fly considerable distances under anaerobic power after launch to find external sources of lift, owing to their relatively large muscle fractions. This would be aided by their ability to reach high velocities upon takeoff, which would limit the required acceleration during climbout. Therefore, while the largest pterosaurs appear to exceed the size limits for continuous flapping flight by a volant animal, there is no reason to suspect that they could not fly long distances Rather, it is reasonable to expect that so long as giant pterosaurs launched within 1 to 2 kilometres of an external source of lift, they could then stay aloft by transitioning to a soaring-dominated mode of travel after an initial burst of anaerobic power.
    There is virtually no indication from the anatomy, biomechanics, aerodynamic performance or depositional contexts of any giant pterosaurs that they had lost their ability to fly. This is particularly so for Pteranodon, an animal with anatomy so skewed towards a glide-efficient wing morphology that its terrestrial capabilities may have been lessened. The case is not so clear-cut for azhdarchids: as pterosaurs living within continental settings and apparently possessing good terrestrial abilities, they meet some criteria that may be expected of a flightless pterosaur. However, like Pteranodon, giant azhdarchids also possess skeletons that function well as flying apparatus and were almost certainly flighted as well.
    These observations do not preclude the existence of flightless pterosaurs, however: it is entirely conceivable that some forms may have abandoned flight given the right environments and selection pressures. In our view, however, the pterosaur lineage closest to abandoning flight may not be giant at all but, rather, the considerably smaller basal pterosaur clade Dimorphodontidae (wingspans of 0.6–1.3 m ). Dimorphodon has been found to be a particularly heavyset pterosaur with relatively high wing loading, attributes found in modern fliers like rails and galliforms that find flight particularly energetically expensive. Given that Dimorphodon also possesses an unusually robust skeleton – including long limbs and well-developed appendages - it was probably also a competent terrestrial (or, more likely, scansorialanimal that spent much of its time grounded. Dimorphodontids therefore possessed characteristics quite conducive to developing flightless habits and there seems little reason to assume that more derived members of this group could not have abandoned flight in the right conditions. We stress, however, that there is currently no evidence that any pterosaurs fully surrendered their flight abilities and, conversely, a wealth of evidence suggesting that all pterosaurs were flighted.

    It would appear that giant pterosaurs could reach speeds of over 100 km p/h and possibly stay aloft for days on a row, flying at altitudes of up to 15,000 feet/4.5 km. This would've allowed them to expand their range considerably and even cross entire oceans with relative ease, explaining their worldwide distribution and presence in ancient island environments.
    For example, remains of azdharchids are known known from all continents except Antarctica, whereas pteranodontids are known from North America, Asia and north Africa.

    Also relevant :pac:





  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional Midlands Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators, Regional North Mods, Regional West Moderators, Regional South East Moderators, Regional North East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 9,300 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    Just saw sci fi movie Pterodactyl (2005). Story plot was weak. Pterodactyl Fx was cool.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Fathom wrote: »
    Just saw sci fi movie Pterodactyl (2005). Story plot was weak. Pterodactyl Fx was cool.

    There is no denying their monster appeal.

    Flying reptiles were the most important prehistoric creatures featured in Conan Doyle's The Lost World, published in 1912. Interestingly, Pteranodon had already been found in North America, but Doyle's pterosaurs are toothed and never mentioned to have a crest; in the novel, his zoologist characters Professor Challenger and Dr. Summerlee argue about whether the pterosaurs belong to genus Pterodactylus or genus Dimorphodon, which would've been the better known ones at the time. At the end they don´t reach a consensus and refer to them simply as pterodactyls. It is the pterodactyl that gets shipped to London and escapes once there, causing panic.

    Then the 1925 film version of the novel featured a Pteranodon, and from that moment on, the vast majority of "pterodactyls" in movies have been either Pteranodon, or a mix between Pteranodon and a rhamphorhynchoid (just add teeth and/or a long tailed to the Pteranodon).

    pteranodon_1925_01.jpg

    Almost invariably, the "pterodactyl" will have a taste for humans (despite the real Pteranodon being mostly a fish eater), and the ability to grasp people with its feet and carry them away like an eagle (the real thing could not grasp, using its proportionally small feet exclusively to walk and maybe swim, and would've caught all of its food with its jaws). It will also nest on top of a large cliff or mountain, in a bird-like nest, and feed its relatively helpless young with live prey- including humans, of course.

    545c63c0999a40fd9ea66eeeaa836d2f.jpg

    10031268_2.jpg?v=8CE71411C11F350

    Doyle wrote his pterodactyls as nesting in a colony, thus predicting this behavior long before the fossil record revealed evidence of it, but in most fiction, the "pterodactyl" nests alone, like an ominous, monstrous bird of prey.

    It seems very interesting to me that the "pterodactyl" as a movie monster seems to incarnate our fear of being attacked from above and devoured not by pterosaurs, which naturally were long gone by the time our early hominid ancestors evolved, but rather by large raptors. We know thanks to the fossil record that our australopithecine ancestors were being hunted and eaten by large eagles, such as the African crowned eagle. Not surprising when you consider that a) said australopithecines were rather small in size, and b) large African eagles are still known to hunt monkeys, some of them of considerable size. The African Crowned Eagle is considered a specialist in hunting primates, but the Martial and Verreaux eagle are known to take monkeys too.

    taung-child-killed-by-eagle-mauricio-antonscience-photo-library.jpg

    The African eagles will carry prey to a nest to feed their chicks. Skulls of human infants have been found in nests of African crowned eagles at certain points in recent history and there is a case of an African boy (I don´t remember the country) being attacked and badly mauled by a crowned eagle on the way to school. As the eagle was a juvenile and there were no nests around, it was concluded that the attack had been predatory. In captivity, Crowned eagles seem to have their predatory instinct triggered by small children's movements and voices.

    So it may be that we humans are subconsciously wired to to fear aerial attacks by large, winged predators because at some point, it was a very real danger; so we fulfill our "need" for scary flying monsters by imagining harpies, dragons, pterodactyls... maybe even hostile UFOs!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    Adam Khor wrote: »
    There is no denying their monster appeal.

    Flying reptiles were the most important prehistoric creatures featured in Conan Doyle's The Lost World, published in 1912. Interestingly, Pteranodon had already been found in North America, but Doyle's pterosaurs are toothed and never mentioned to have a crest; in the novel, his zoologist characters Professor Challenger and Dr. Summerlee argue about whether the pterosaurs belong to genus Pterodactylus or genus Dimorphodon, which would've been the better known ones at the time. At the end they don´t reach a consensus and refer to them simply as pterodactyls. It is the pterodactyl that gets shipped to London and escapes once there, causing panic.

    Then the 1925 film version of the novel featured a Pteranodon, and from that moment on, the vast majority of "pterodactyls" in movies have been either Pteranodon, or a mix between Pteranodon and a rhamphorhynchoid (just add teeth and/or a long tailed to the Pteranodon).

    pteranodon_1925_01.jpg

    Almost invariably, the "pterodactyl" will have a taste for humans (despite the real Pteranodon being mostly a fish eater), and the ability to grasp people with its feet and carry them away like an eagle (the real thing could not grasp, using its proportionally small feet exclusively to walk and maybe swim, and would've caught all of its food with its jaws). It will also nest on top of a large cliff or mountain, in a bird-like nest, and feed its relatively helpless young with live prey- including humans, of course.

    545c63c0999a40fd9ea66eeeaa836d2f.jpg

    10031268_2.jpg?v=8CE71411C11F350

    Doyle wrote his pterodactyls as nesting in a colony, thus predicting this behavior long before the fossil record revealed evidence of it, but in most fiction, the "pterodactyl" nests alone, like an ominous, monstrous bird of prey.

    It seems very interesting to me that the "pterodactyl" as a movie monster seems to incarnate our fear of being attacked from above and devoured not by pterosaurs, which naturally were long gone by the time our early hominid ancestors evolved, but rather by large raptors. We know thanks to the fossil record that our australopithecine ancestors were being hunted and eaten by large eagles, such as the African crowned eagle. Not surprising when you consider that a) said australopithecines were rather small in size, and b) large African eagles are still known to hunt monkeys, some of them of considerable size. The African Crowned Eagle is considered a specialist in hunting primates, but the Martial and Verreaux eagle are known to take monkeys too.

    taung-child-killed-by-eagle-mauricio-antonscience-photo-library.jpg

    The African eagles will carry prey to a nest to feed their chicks. Skulls of human infants have been found in nests of African crowned eagles at certain points in recent history and there is a case of an African boy (I don´t remember the country) being attacked and badly mauled by a crowned eagle on the way to school. As the eagle was a juvenile and there were no nests around, it was concluded that the attack had been predatory. In captivity, Crowned eagles seem to have their predatory instinct triggered by small children's movements and voices.

    So it may be that we humans are subconsciously wired to to fear aerial attacks by large, winged predators because at some point, it was a very real danger; so we fulfill our "need" for scary flying monsters by imagining harpies, dragons, pterodactyls... maybe even hostile UFOs!

    possibly but why did folks develop a fear of spiders moths etc?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Rubecula wrote: »
    possibly but why did folks develop a fear of spiders moths etc?

    Spiders I can understand, as our ancestors would've coexisted with large, potentially dangerous arachnids, and would surely have encountered them while foraging for insects, roots and other food sources in the forest floor or the savannah.

    Consider the African baboon spiders, for example; large, aggressive, and venomous enough to cause pain and illness for several days in modern humans, so who knows what effect it would've had on smaller bodied hominins? This spider is still found in the same regions that saw our ancestors evolve.

    KingBaboonSpiderWHSp_AP7I.jpg

    But I do admit I cannot understand people who are scared of moths :pac:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    maybe just a simple phobia, my sister screams the house down if a moth gets in the place and my aunt couldn't handle a fly lol my mum hated earwigs and beetles she called cockroaches. bless them all


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional Midlands Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators, Regional North Mods, Regional West Moderators, Regional South East Moderators, Regional North East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 9,300 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    Adam Khor wrote: »
    There is no denying their monster appeal.
    Cool humor using double entendres. :D


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Keresdrakon is related to the Tapejarids, strange, toothless pterosaurs that include the more famous Tapejara. It lived around 110-80 million years ago, during the early to mid Cretaceous, and was relatively small, with a wingspan of about 2.5 m.

    https://mais.opovo.com.br/reportagensexclusivas/2019/08/20/pesquisador-cearense-participa-da-descoberta-de-nova-especie-de-pterossauro-no-brasil.html

    paleo-3541248.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Tracks and feces of "Jurassic flamingo" pterosaurs found

    https://sciglow.com/archaeology/filter-feeding-pterosaurs-were-the-flamingos-of-the-late-jurassic/

    The pterosaurs known as ctenochasmatids (comb-mouths) filled a niche similar to that of today's flamingoes, and include such strange creatures as Pterodaustro.

    pterodaustrotropeognathus_ma.jpg

    Pterodaustro_aee5.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Cryodrakon boreas ("frozen dragon of the North wind"), a new giant azhdarchid from Canada. Apparently different- and a bit older- than Quetzalcoatlus. Some isolated remains that may belong to this new species come from an animal maybe 9-10 m across the wings, making it one of the largest flying creatures ever to live.

    https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/09/cryodrakon-new-frozen-dragon-pterosaur-found-hiding-in-plain-sight/

    og_frozen_maas-cryodrakon-boreas-02.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    if pterosaurs could reach the size of qetzalcoatlus then I think that in time birds could also reach such sizes, after all they are much more modern in the way they fly I assume.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Rubecula wrote: »
    if pterosaurs could reach the size of qetzalcoatlus then I think that in time birds could also reach such sizes, after all they are much more modern in the way they fly I assume.

    I think it's possible. After all, the largest flying birds known from the fossil record (at least, the largest for which there are decent remains) are the pelagornithids such as Dasornis and Pelagornis, which could have a wingspan of up to 7 m. That is comparable to some of the largest pterosaurs, such as Pteranodon (itself considered at one point the upper limit of size among flying creatures, and later dethroned by Quetzalcoatlus).

    image_2046_2e-Pelagornis-sandersi.jpg

    C2TJp7RWQAArCCz.jpg

    These pseudotoothed birds roamed the world for a long time, from the Eocene to probably the early Pleistocene, and their size remained pretty stable throughout that time. I think if there were Pteranodon-sized sea birds flying around, it's not impossible for larger ones to evolve, given the right circumstances.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Interesting article on how giant pterosaurs could fly/get so big. Relevant to previous posts in which we discussed the possibility of birds reaching similar sizes. This article would seem to suggest otherwise, if quadrupedal posture and launching was actually the key to the pterosaur's giant size.

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pterosaurs-were-monsters-of-the-mesozoic-skies/?utm_medium=social&utm_content=organic&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=SciAm_&sf219675129=1&fbclid=IwAR27P08tFqx1DoH_sz1OqrNLgovFtb4H9HqSvF06cBkNa9qL2At2FWx5t3s

    C7A585E7-644E-4C1C-84D020C925D675DA_source.jpg?w=590&h=800&C91C839C-8C49-4FE3-890615B942BC6805


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Chemical analysis of Tupandactylus imperator's crest challenges color inferences in extinct animals:
    Our results demonstrate the unequivocal presence of eumelanin in T. imperator headcrest. Scanning electron microscopy followed by statistical analyses, however, reveal that preserved melanosomes containing eumelanin are undistinguishable to pheomelanin-bearing organelles of extant vertebrates. Based on these new findings, straightforward color inferences based on melanosome morphology may not be valid for all fossil vertebrates, and color reconstructions based on ultrastructure alone should be regarded with caution.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-52318-y

    images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcRJG0D1D8TJ5uXxEdBYQa_PCqarj4wqKknYSRYjxx-AryJ81Nac


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Albadraco, a new (?) azhdarchid pterosaur from Transylvania. Very fragmentary, as per usual, so maybe it could be a juvenile Hatzegopteryx?

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667119301016#undfig1

    1-s2.0-S0195667119301016-fx1.jpg


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Mimodactylus, a complete, crow-size pterosaur from Lebanon:

    http://novataxa.blogspot.com/2019/11/mimodactylus.html

    Mimodactylus_libanensis-novataxa_2019-Kellner_Caldwell_Holgado_et_al--%2540pterosaurios.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Rhamphorhynchoid trackway found in France, a first; proves these long-tailed pterosaurs were quadrupedal, like pterodactyloids.

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016699520300024

    This was predicted by French illustrator Riou who drew a quadrupedal Rhamphorhynchus (and its tracks) in 1863.

    Rhamphorhynchus_reconstruction_Riou_1863.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur tail vanes probably not rudders, as traditionally explained, but rather visual display; the flexibility of the tail and changing shape of the vane strongly support the idea:

    https://thepterosaurinquisition.wordpress.com/2020/01/20/thoughts-on-rhamphorhynchid-tails/

    rhamphy-boiiiiiiiiioiiiiiiiioolasgzrfxu-1.png


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Plesioteuthis fossil with embedded Rhamphorhynchus tooth is first proof that these pterosaurs hunted squid, and not always succesfully:

    https://www.sciencenews.org/article/squid-fossil-offers-rare-record-pterosaur-feeding-behavior?fbclid=IwAR2E51rNYzyiR8NZwD7csqbDRACD_r4FTl0Ewmt-twO4ryHujJ5hx2-jOUQ

    120519_jp_pterosaur-squid_inline.jpg

    120519_jp_pterosaur-squid_feat-1028x579.jpg
    Paleontologist Michael Habib of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles says he suspects the squid was far too large for the pterosaur to haul out of the water. “The pterosaur was lucky that the tooth broke off,” says Habib, who was not involved with the study. “A squid of that size could probably have pulled it under.”


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Apatorhamphus, a new pterosaur from Kem Kem beds (home to Spinosaurus):

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566711930374X
    Apatorhamphus gyrostega is a pterosaur of medium to large size (wingspan likely somewhere between ∼ 3 m and ∼ 7 m). This new species brings the number of named Kem Kem azhdarchoids to three, and the number of named Kem Kem pterosaurs to five, indicating a high pterosaur diversity for the Kem Kem beds.

    May be a chaoyangopterid.

    af8dbca79f94c95d2fa19d5008db163b.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    On the crest structure and soft tissue from Tupandactylus (formerly known as Tapejara imperator).

    Free PDF:

    https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.06.937458v1.full.pdf

    Tupandactylus is the largest member of the tapejarid family and one of the weirdest pterosaurs known. It is known from several well preserved specimens. Its diet has been subject to debate, with some suggesting a frugivorous lifestyle, like an oversized toucan; however, this paper sort of implies it may have been a predator/scavenger with an oversized nasal cavity similar to today's turkey vulture.

    41boXf5fAtL.jpg

    c49c13e0e2e737340ac088f5a229a688.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Luchibang ("heron wing"), a new istiodactylid pterosaur from China. With a 2 m wingspan it was not particularly big as pterosaurs go but it was apparently a very young animal, meaning an adult may have been quite sizeable and maybe one of the largest istiodactylids.

    Luchibang is mostly notable for its long legs and relatively large feet which are more similar to those of the land-dwelling azdharchids than those of other, more closely related pterodactyls; it is likely that it spent a lot of time either walking or wading in search for food.

    https://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2020/03/09/a-long-overdue-welcome-to-luchibang/

    ESsx0ymWkAArEdt?format=jpg&name=small

    ESs0ywPXYAEJo7E?format=jpg&name=large


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Remains of Anhanguera and Ornithocheirus found in Morocco. Both pterosaurs were previously known only from South America and Europe. This adds to the evidence that large pterosaur forms had huge geographical distributions due to their ability to fly long distances over both land and sea.

    https://phys.org/news/2020-03-fossil-clues-reptiles-sahara-million.html?fbclid=IwAR040zV62dGZ0qdw63-_hwP8v-p8JMYPntrbDI6-9u76QyKmEWcGPnohVAk

    5e7b6cd10e36b.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Big pterodactyloid wings from Solnhofen. Remains of large Jurassic pterosaurs are pretty rare!

    https://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/big-wings-in-the-solnhofen/

    440px-Pterodactylus_holotype_fly_mmartyniuk.png


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  • Registered Users Posts: 413 ✭✭MeteoritesEire


    apologies if this is in the wrong place .I was going to put it in the resources thread but that hasn't been added to in 9 years


    John Hopkins University Press has made available online books

    for free for this period of cancelled or remote classes. Some

    paleontology books, of which each chapter can be downloaded

    free as a PDF are:

    Birds of Stone: Chinese Avian Fossils from the Age of Dinosaurs

    Luis M. Chiappe and Meng Qingjin, 2016

    https://muse.jhu.edu/book/48019

    The Rise of Birds: 225 Million Years of Evolution

    Sankar Chatterjee, 2015

    https://muse.jhu.edu/book/39108

    Transylvanian Dinosaurs

    David B. Weishampel and Coralia-Maria Jianu, 2011

    https://muse.jhu.edu/book/1874

    The Rise of Marine Mammals: 50 Million Years of Evolution

    Annalisa Berta, 2017

    https://muse.jhu.edu/book/56360

    The Rise of Reptiles: 320 Million Years of Evolution

    Hans-Dieter Sues, 2019

    https://muse.jhu.edu/book/67468

    Smilodon: The Iconic Sabertooth

    edited by Lars Werdelin, H. Gregory McDonald, and

    Christopher A. Shaw, 2018

    https://muse.jhu.edu/book/58589

    Other free books by John Hopkins University Press

    can be found at:

    https://muse.jhu.edu/search?action=browse&limit=publisher_id:1

    hope some may find it useful


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    These are some great resources! I will post the links on the corresponding threads by subject.

    Thank you for sharing!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Remains of tapejarid pterodactyl found in the UK for the first time:

    https://www.ibtimes.sg/fossilized-remains-bizarre-pterosaur-discovered-uk-first-time-46069

    pterosaur.jpg?w=600


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Study on Rhamphorhynchus finds they could fly as hatchlings, unlike most birds or bats.

    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/let.12391

    DsrjqsZWoAAphKB.jpg:large


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Ornithocheirid pterosaur found in Mexico, is the latest of its kind (and first found in the country):

    https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/fossils-of-flying-reptile-found-in-mexico-for-the-first-time/

    Ornithocheirids were made famous by Walking with Dinosaurs and included some of the largest toothed pterosaurs ever to exist.

    tropeognathus-4379220b-a858-40d0-99f4-206631602c9-resize-750.jpeg


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Cretaceous pterodactyl Lonchodraco had a sensitive beak tip for tactile hunting, study suggests:

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667120303232

    220px-Lonchodectes-concepts.png


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    New study challenges the idea that pterosaurs were fuzzy, instead proposing that the traces of filaments are from the wing fibers that decayed and unraveled after death.

    https://phys.org/news/2020-09-naked-prehistoric-monsters-evidence-reptiles.html

    nakedprehist.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Upcoming study on the wing bones of a Tropeognathus-type pterosaur from Brazil suggests a wingspan of about 7.6 m, making it one of the largest pterosaurs on record.Moreover, everything in the specimen suggests it was a juvenile that still could've grown considerably larger.

    This suggests gigantic ornithocheirids like the one famously portrayed in Walking with Dinosaurs (and since considered highly speculative) really did exist. Although the study does not give a wingspan estimate for the fully grown animal, there's already informal estimates going around online of about 11 m (the WWD "Ornithocheirus" was said to have a 12 m wingspan).

    If correct this would make the Brazilian ornithocheirid not only the largest toothed pterosaur, but also the largest pterosaur currently known from the southern Hemisphere.

    Naturalis_Biodiversity_Center_-_Museum_-_Exhibition_Primeval_parade_21_-_Flying_reptile_Coloborhynchus_spielbergi.jpg

    Keep an eye out for this one!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Dietary diversity of pterosaurs revealed by dental analysis:

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19022-2

    The study finds that the earliest pterosaurs were likely hunters of invertebrates, and later diversified into other niches including durophages (hard shelled invertebrate eaters), piscivores, and both specialized and generalist carnivores.

    rhamphorhynchus_by_ariel_orea-d54w27n_efb6.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Pterosaur wing recovered from Morocco's fossil rich phosphate mines is assigned to Tethydraco; its morphology suggests it was not a pteranodontian as originally believed, but an azhdarchid (member of the same family as the enormous Quetzalcoatlus).

    The study finds that the high abundance of azhdarchid remains in the open marine deposits of Morocco would suggest these pterosaurs were not limited to inland terrestrial environments as has recently been suggested (some of them were apparently marine).

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667120303669

    It should be noted that these fossils are older than those of say, Quetzalcoatlus or Hatzegopteryx, so it is not impossible that the azhdarchids started out as marine pterosaurs and later became adapted to inland environments, or even that they were very diverse since their early evolution.

    Quetzalcoatlus2-1024x723.jpg


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