Researchers found that pterosaurs used all four limbs to take off, similar to bats, shedding new light on the flight mechanisms of these large prehistoric animals.
Researchers have discovered that pterosaurs likely used all four limbs to launch themselves into the air, similar to how bats do today. This study, published in PeerJ, offers fresh insights into how pterosaurs achieved flight despite their massive size, with some species boasting wingspans of over ten meters. The findings highlight the remarkable jumping ability these ancient creatures used to initiate flight.
The study, carried out by scientists at the University of Bristol, Liverpool John Moores University, Universidade Federal do ABC, and the University of Keele, follows years of analysis and modeling of how muscles interact with bones to create movement in other animals and is now being used to start answering the question of how the largest flying animals known managed to get off the ground.
The team created the first computer model for this kind of analysis of a pterosaur to test three different ways pterosaurs may have taken off: a vertical burst jump using just the legs like those used by primarily ground-dwelling birds, a less vertical jump using just the legs more similar to the jump used by birds that fly frequently, and a four-limbed jump using its wings as well in a motion more like the take-off jump of a bat. By mimicking these motions, the researchers aimed to understand the leverage available to push the animal into the air.
Findings and Implications
“Larger animals have greater challenges to overcome in order to fly making the ability of animals as large as pterosaurs to do so especially fascinating.” Dr Ben Griffin, the lead author of the study, said. “Unlike birds which mainly rely on their hindlimbs, our models indicate that pterosaurs were more likely to rely on all four of their limbs to propel themselves into the air.”
This study examines one of the long-standing questions about the underlying biomechanics of pterosaurs. This research not only enhances the understanding of pterosaur biology but also provides broader insights into the limits and dynamics of flight in large animals. By comparing pterosaurs with modern birds and bats, the study highlights the remarkable evolutionary solutions to the challenge of powered flight.
Reference: “Modelling take-off moment arms in an ornithocheiraean pterosaur” by Benjamin W. Griffin, Elizabeth Martin-Silverstone, Rodrigo V. Pêgas, Erik Anthony Meilak, Fabiana R. Costa, Colin Palmer and Emily J. Rayfield, 5 August 2024, PeerJ.
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17678
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11 Comments
Pterosaur can not fly I solve the mystery it’s a flightless dinosaur .eusteptospondylus is a gator type mesoeucrocodylia because it has serrated teeth spinosaurus did not have serrated teeth because they lack lacrimal horns and baryonyx has lacrimal horn only in alligator they have lacrimal horn it’s advance modern crocodilian in caiman alligator most modern crocodilian lack lacrimal horn .pterosaur is very aquatic dinosaur that had while nose more extreme today crocodilian all pterosaur could not fly
While whale nose .a mistake
Giant snout clearly these are aquatic animal the giant heavy armor skin crest Larry Martin mite think this is a joke .when they first found them they say they were aquatic now a fly animal the same pattern in dinosaur now they are birds .two flying crocodilian birds and pterosaur .flying thecodont .this is reason chicken has fleshy crest skin so they can fly and microraptor bird has feather crest to save weight Microraptor bird has same feather crest as today flying birds
Same pattern cliaming birds are thecodont no bird has thecodont teeth the crocodilian teeth but pterosaur has thecodont teeth .one bird giant crest on the beak I think finger nail armor skin one bird a build out bird there is lots pterosaur with giant crest on top of skull allso very aquatic duck bill dinosaur .pterosaur and duck bill dinosaur has unique occified tendon the same occified tendon.and these pterosaur were very big rival very big heavy dinosaur .these wing are convergent evolution you see wings in sting ray allso crocodile a thecodont and a dinosaur and pterosaur allso a dinosaur
Why never talk about pterosaur Webb toes
Eusteptospondylus Eustreptospondylus.any thecodont with a serrated teeth is a dinosaur pterosaur and crocodile pass the test .advance pterosaur has a kink snout they use kink snout to show dinosaur came from aquatic animal and thecodont .strangely early pterosaur did not have kink snout like most tetanuran dinosaur the kink is fish eating feature .pterosaur has some advance feature for a early dinosaur it’s archosaurformies type of dinosaur they have palate teeth like eoraptor the links to tuatara a primitive reptile they have thecodont teeth too no tetanuran dinosaur has palate teeth that why modern crocodilian does not have palate teeth
Eusteptospondylus Eustreptospondylus .pterosaur has advance feature for early dinosaur they did not have kink snout only later they have them .kink is fish eating feature that show dinosaur and thecodont came from aquatic ancestor .pterosaur has palate teeth like early dinosaur eoraptor
This teeth is found in the primitive reptile tuatara the modern crocodilian is tetanuran dinosaur that why they do not have it .it allso not found in pseudosuchus so pterosaur archosaurformies type of dinosaur early thecodont because there no evidence for name archosaur .pterosaur do have some thecodont teeth that why it’s a thecodont
There is no flying dinosaur pterosaur was flightless is more like a whale is more aquatic than today modern crocodilian it was not heavyly armor skin it’s back no rows of armor skin or the side the land is very visual is easy to see animal the water need aero feature simular to the sky that why fish are not heavyly armor smooth skin
Pterosaur was kill by spinosauridae and rest of mesoeucrocodylia they got them in water business they make a good meal only the better dinosaur survive today what Darwin has being saying .modern crocodilian the champ the last surviving dinosaur a spinosauridae is a great predator
Pterosaur has serrated teeth like dinosaur and crocodile any thecodont with serrated teeth is a dinosaur more feature back that up .