Re: Pterosaur size (Was: Great in the air, not so good underwater)

[Nick Pharris <npharris@umich.edu>]

Quoting Michael Habib <mhabib5@jhmi.edu>:

> At the other extreme, some birds have jettisoned hind limb function 
> for particular selective flight advantages; because the hind limbs 
> are the primary launch power in birds, these species often need 
> gravity assistance to launch.  Such taxa (like Phaethon, Fregata, 
> Apus, and Chordeiles) are clumsy on the ground but this has nothing 
> to do with scaling (in fact, Apus and Chordeiles are quite small).

Good point, and let's not forget hummingbirds, the smallest birds of 
all.  Do they ever walk at all?

--
Nick Pharris
Department of Linguistics
University of Michigan

"Creativity is the sudden cessation of stupidity."
    --Edwin H. Land