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[Miles Watson <astute54@yahoo.com>]

--- bh480@scn.org wrote:
> From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org
> Re: Pterodactylus web article for National
> Geographic
> Deutschland
>
> Because of at least one personal request, here's a
> quick
> (and less than perfect) translation of the German
> text of
> the article (somebody else may do better!):
>
>
http://www.nationalgeographic.de/php/magazin/topstories/200
> 1/05/topstory1a.htm
>
> Pterosaurs Walked on All Fours
> It was a spectactular find that no one appreciated
> at
> first, least of all the two paleontologists Helmut
> Tischlinger from Stammham and Eberhart "Dino" Frey
> of the
> National Museum of Natural History at Karlsruhe.
> "The
> broken limestone slabs from the Langenaltheimer
> quarries
> did not look particularly impressive at the
> time"--so went
> their original assessment of the ancient reptile
> bones
> when they were still mostly covered in sedimentary
> rock.
> The recently completed preparation of the fossil
> from
> Solnhofen provides completely new information about
> the
> anatomy of pterosaurs: for the first time the new
> fossil
> finds prove that the ancient rulers of the sky
> likely
> walked on all fours.
>
> Caption: Reconstruction of Pterodactylus antinquus
> in a
> four-legged stance based on the new findings. The
> hand
> with the three small fingers is rotated back.
>
> The preparation of the fossil was done entirely
> under
> ultraviolet light.  Besides the excellently
> preserved skin
> impressions of the wing and flight surfaces,
> previously
> unknown soft-tissue structures in the head region
> and on
> the feet were brought to light. Thus the researchers
> not
> only exposed the remains of  the bizarre dermal comb
> on
> top of the head --similar to that known from other
> pterosaurs-- but could detect for the first time a
> horny
> beak-sheath on the tips of the jaws.
>
> Caption: Pterodactylus sp., new find from the Malm
> Zeta 2b
> at Langenalheim, approx. 20 cm. long
>
> The hindlimbs of the Langenaltheimer Pterodactylus
> excited
> special attention: yet another type of connecting
> skin
> stretched between the metatarsals and toe bones .
> New for
> the genus were sickle-shaped curved horny
> claw-sheaths on
> the toes as well as scaly padding on the soles and
> heels.
>
> Caption: A large short-tailed pterosaur (head-length
> 15.5
> cm) from the Solnhofen limestone.  Soft-tissue can
> be
> recognized on the occiput and neck, while hair-like
> structures are conspicuous along the neck.
>
>
>  They confirm in an impressive manner  the findings
> from
> the Langenaltheimer specimen
> Thanks to these insights,  the 150-year old debate
> about
> whether pterosaurs walked on two legs like birds or
> on
> four legs like bats, can be decided in favor of the
> four-
> footed locomotion.
>
> Caption: Pterodactylus sp. UV-picture of the
> hindlimbs.
> Between the toes of the left foot remains of webbing
> with
> fiber bundles can be recognized, as well as the
> large
> curved claw-sheaths.
>
>
> Not all questions about pterosaurs have been settled
> yet.
> >From their first occurrence 215 million years ago
> during
> the Triassic to their extinction in the Cretaceous
> 65
> million years ago, pterosaurs ultimately reached
> gigantic
> size and great diversity, and ruled the prehistoric
> skies
> long before the emergence of birds. The smallest of
> more
> than 120 species were not much larger than a thrush,
> the
> largest achieved a wingspan of nearly 12 meters.
> Experience more about pterosaurs in the May 2001
> issue of
> National Geographic Deutschland and read about them
> on our
> website.
>
>
>


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