Comments on: Reconsidering the Reconstruction of the Pterosaur

By: Raymond Minton

Raymond Minton — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:40:38 +0000

Fascinating new research on Azhdarchid lifestyles, based on anatomy. It would be interesting to see the same efforts put forward to study the possible behavior of other pterosaurs, based on anatomy, trace evidence, deposits where fossils are preserved etc., and see how closely the evidence matches with our common suppositions. Well done.

By: BJN

BJN — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:36:47 +0000

I don’t buy the ostrich parallel concept. These critters have long, thin, vulnerable wing finger appendages that surely would have been reduced in a purely terrestrial adaptation, not to mention that the rest of the skeleton is very delicate for a terrestrial lifestyle.We don’t have mammals the size of large dinosaurs either and we can’t understand every fossil species by analogy.

By: Ross

Ross — Fri, 30 May 2008 10:12:41 +0000

We don’t know of any flying birds that weigh more than 30kg, and we don’t understand how substantially larger animals could sustain flight. (Nature never figured out how to grow propellors out of protein.) Surely these critters are more like ostrich, or moa

By: Darren Naish

Darren Naish — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:05:11 +0000

There ARE still fern meadows of very Mesozoic aspect in some parts of the world: we have them here in southern England for example. Thanks for the write-up Greg!

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:32:55 +0000

caynazzo: EXCELLENT QUESTIONS!!!!Evolution. Well, and extinction, probably. The period of interest here is the Cretaceous, which ended in that big meteor hitting the earth, etc., so that would have messed things up. Following this, things were genreally warmish and wettish, so forest abounded. There may have been fern prairies then but they would have been small.In the mean time, grasses were just coming on the scene, and they had advantages over ferns in these environments. Better adapted to seasonal variations and equipped with anti-herbivore mechanisms, they became, it seems, more common. In the mean time, herbivores adapted to the grass anti-herbivore strategies and an arms race (still underway, I assume) ensued.That’s the simple version, but it is roughly what people think.

By: caynazzo

caynazzo — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:42:36 +0000

Where are all the fern prairies today?

By: yogi-one

yogi-one — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:59:59 +0000

Dang, I was missing the artists’ renditions of huge pterosaurs swooping down and scooping up Raquel Welch-like supermodels by their bearskin bikinis circa 5000 BC.(Sigh)…reality rudely interrupts once again…

By: Zach Miller

Zach Miller — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:59:31 +0000

Holy freaking crap, that’s awesome. Well done, Darren, and thanks for the head’s up, Greg!

By: Edman

Edman — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:33:37 +0000

I’m a big fan of Mark Witton’s pterosaurs, and it was great to see them paired up with this new research! Terrestrial foraging would definitely be the last thing I’d expect a pterosaur to do. Very cool, though.

By: Christopher Taylor

Christopher Taylor — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:32:44 +0000

That's Naish, not Nalsh. And yes, that's Darren Naish of Tetrapod Zoology.