Re: Pterosaur take-off visualization aid

["jrc" <jrccea@bellsouth.net>]

I agree that bat running clips are fun to watch, but they don't address 
whether pterosaurs could run ( I personally think pterosaurs could at least 
canter, but haven't attempted to prove or disprove that speculation), and 
pterosaurs didn't need to run to launch anyway.  Even the most heavily 
loaded of them had sufficient power in no-wind conditions to launch from 
stationary to steady-state stall speed by the time the hands left the ground 
(hands were the last thing to leave the ground).  They can also do an 
assymetric turning launch by powering one hand off the ground slightly in 
advance of the other (convenient for predator avoidance).  As an aside, 
pterosaur launch is not so vertically oriented as bat quadrupedal launch is.
JimC

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Allen Hazen" <allenph@unimelb.edu.au>
To: <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 2:51 AM
Subject: Pterosaur take-off visualization aid


> > I know bats are unlike pterosaurs in ever so many ways, but maybe they
> slightly resemble them in limb proportions and comparative power of 
> pectoral
> versus pelvic musculature.  Just as an aid to the imagination, not making
> any claims that it proves anything... I think it's a fun clip to watch.
>
> Allen Hazen
> Philosophy (PASI)
> University of Melbourne