RE: A note on pterosaur nesting behavior

[Jaime Headden <qi_leong@hotmail.com>]

Dave Peters wrote:



It should be noted that :

1. Virtually all squamates that lay eggs bury them, and that means -- aside 
from most birds -- virtually all diapsids that lay eggs do so as well, as 
archosaurs that lay (including crocodilians; and excluding birds) bury their 
eggs, and sometimes fairly deep. 

2. The bracket here, and the argument to overcome, is how and whether a diapsid 
that lays an egg doesn't bury it, not that the membraneous wings should exclude 
this position. 

3. The membraneous wings as an exclusionary aspect for egg-burial is an 
interesting idea, but I am not sure it holds much water. Toughness of the 
membrane of the win and its tensility should be pretty
tough given these aniomals are apparently capable of flight shortly
after hatching. Should, and how does, this exclude them from climbing
through earthen mounds or pits is an aspect for a study, not a conclusion.

4. Precocial animals that bury their eggs include crocodilians and turtles, and 
these animals seem fairly fragile, yet active, immediately after hatching.

Cheers,

Jaime A. Headden

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