Re: FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE . . . PTEROSAURS HAVE LIFT OFF!

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Quoting Janet m vandenburgh <van02@cox.net>:

> http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_06_09.html
> 
> --Hopkins researcher reports that ancient flying reptiles used four legs to
> launch

It's great to see research like this actually published, rather than the sort 
of anecdotal back-and-forth 
discussions such as we've seen here on the DML in the past (or elsewhere on the 
internet). The only 
surprising thing about this research is why it's taken so long for someone to 
actually publish it (using 
actual biomechanical calculations that is, rather than hypothetical 'just-so' 
scenarios).

Does anyone have the full reference for this paper?

> A modern-day man and giraffe, drawn to scale, flank the extinct pterosaur
> known as Hatzegotpteryx. Unlike birds, pterosaurs used four legs to launch
> themselves into flight, according to new research. Illustration by Mark
> Witton.

It's certainly an impressive illustration - but what is the likelihood that 
Hatzegotpteryx could have 
raised it's head as high as a giraffe can? Or that it could stand with such 
straight limbs, for that matter? 
I've always envisaged them as having a more bat-like stance on the ground, with 
the neck at a much 
shallowed angle. Although I imagine that wouldn't make quite as impressive an 
illustration.

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              http://geo_cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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