Comments on: Attenborough’s Flying Monsters 3D Is Going To Be Good https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/ Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:43:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 By: Daniel J. Andrews https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508174 Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:43:00 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508174 Also quite jealous, and ditto Sir David being the hero of hundreds–nay–tens of thousands of biologists (as well as many other people too). I have hoped to meet him for a very very long time, but the rare times he comes to Canada, I’m not around.

]]> By: a+ https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508173 Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:11:28 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508173 I’m also jealous. Please, if you ever speak again with Sir David: tell him he’s the hero of hundereds of biologists.

His documentaries are not only breathtaking visually. I have seen stuff filmed by his team which is not at all in scientific literature, e.g., the pollination of Amorphiphallus titanum. (And, by the way, the Aroideana piece about this short film is pure gold.)

]]> By: Matt Kimber https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508172 Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:59:54 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508172 Hi Greg
According to Mark’s website, the book will be published next year (http://www.markwitton.com/#/pup-pterosaurs/4552905946). Amazon.com apparently does not yet have the book up for pre-order. He does have a chapter list, sample chapter and artwork excerpts up though. The book description, pasted below, hints at why this book is going to be important, but a quick glance at Dr. Witton’s artwork tells you that it is also going to be stunning.

“Despite 220 years of study, flying reptiles have received little attention from the popular press. Only three truly comprehensive, popular books dedicated to pterosaurs have been published in this time, and only one this century, meaning much of the recent ‘Pterosaur Renaissance’ – the current surge in pterosaur discoveries and research beginning in the late 1980s – remains untold outside of the technical literature.

Pterosaurs, published by Princeton University Press, is an attempt to plug this obvious gap in popular scientific writing. Fully referenced and richly-illustrated, it documents pterosaur palaeobiology and diversity in a manner not attempted for over 30 years. Overviews of pterosaur evolution, anatomy, functional morphology and taxonomy are presented through 100,00 words and 200 illustrations spread across 26 chapters. “

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508171 Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:21:25 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508171 Matt, do you happen to know if there is going to be an English edition of Mark’s book? This one seems to be available now: Pterosauriers: Vliegende tijdgenoten van de dinosauriers (Dutch Edition)

]]> By: Matt Kimber https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508170 Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:05:38 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508170 If you like pterosaurs, have a look at pterosaur.net (http://www.pterosaur.net/) which is maintained by a group of professional paleontologists with a primary interest in pterosaurs. Mark Witton’s flickr photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwitton) while now a little inactive has loads of really impressive paintings (such as the now classic Quetzalcoatlus next to a giraffe picture) as well as a lot of fun and technically very well informed discussion. He also has a book coming out very soon that promises to be _the_ book for appreciating the shear awesomeness of these animals.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508169 Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:28:46 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508169 Yes, O2 peaked at about 320 mya, then dropped to way below current levels, then went up to a second peak in the late Cretaceous.

The Triassic actually started out as a lower O2 and ended, I think, with modern levels.

I’m not sure if there is a convincing argument regarding atmospheric thickness. I’ll put that on my list of things to as Don Prothero when I interview him in a few weeks.

]]> By: Roland https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508168 Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:16:27 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/09/20/flying-monsters-3d-is-going-to/#comment-508168 We know there were giant dragonflies (2′ wingspan) when the O2 content of the atmosphere was as high as 40%–was that Triassic? That would feed an insect eater with a 4′ wingspan (Dimorphodon). But do we know if atmospheric density was higher in the past? How could that be determined? It would certainly make flight easier.

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