Re: Pterosaurs in trees? NOT!

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

Scendan@aol.com wrote:

> Well, but do we know how flexible your typical pterasaur neck was?  Couldn't
> they have rested their head vertically along the trunk as well as their body
> and looked around with peripheral vision?  Which leads me to ask (as I am
> woefully ignorant about these guys): were most pterasaurs blessed with
> binocular vision?  (Which would put a hole in my hypothesis.)

The larger pterodactyloids (the "short-tails", well mostly) seem to
have had few, elongated vertebrae. Probably not particularly
flexible. I find it hard to believe reconstructions that show
species like Pteranodon with an extreme s-curved neck like modern
pelicans in flight. As for binocular vision, can you fly effectively
without it? I don't know many one-eyed pilots.

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        Dann Pigdon
        Melbourne, Australia
        http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/4459/

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