I admit it, I’ve not been at all consistent with social media. I’m working a lot, so here’s a timesaver of a post for me…a little late (sorry). Here are a few articles about relatively recent paleo news that I found worth sharing; but since this is Instagram aka The Land of No Links, you get screenshots. I figure a quick web search will get you whatever more you wish to read.
Another entry for Jurassic June(-ior), some pterosaurs! These are the Pteranodon from Jurassic World and the Geosternbergia that was present in concept art for The Lost World. The final movie used an actual Pteranodon, I guess I was just going for bonus points.
In other news, I gave them a healthy coating of pycnofibers (feather-like filaments on pterosaurs) even though, for instance, the JW Pteranodon is leathery and bare. This was based on the fact that birds like the Australian Ibis can have bald patches in adulthood that are feathery when young. Perhaps a bit of a stretch, but I’m trying to somewhat appease the proper paleo people as well. Enjoy!
So I’ve been watching Prehistoric Planet and it’s occurred to me how fucking weird pterosaurs are
Like they have a beak like a bird’s and a general body plan like a bat’s, except they predate both of those animals and both of those attributes are far different than the modern animals, and they also have a weird little crest on their head
They’re just weirdos, I love them
Don’t forget “bodies covered with almost, but not quite feathers that end up looking like fur”.
Episode 3 of Prehistoric Planet was very good, but DANG do they not like baby animals in this show. That Velociraptor hunt may have been one of the coolest sequences I’ve seen in a long time.
Pterodactylus antiquus was the first pterosaur ever discovered, and in popular culture the name “pterodactyl” has become commonly associated with the group as a whole.
1800s
Thefirst known Pterodactlyusspecimen came from southeast Germany, and was described (although not yet named) in the 1780s. The modern concept of extinction hadn’t yet been established, so at the time unknown fossil species were generally assumed to still exist alive somewhere in remote regions of the world. Initially it was unclear what type of animal this specimen represented, and it was interpreted as being aquatic because the oceans seemed like the best place for such a strange creature to hide undiscovered.
In 1800 it was recognized as instead being a flying animal, with naturalist Johann Hermann creating both the first known life restoration of a pterosaur and one of the first known examples of scientific paleoart in general. He depicted it as a bat-like mammal with extensive wing membranes, external ears, and a covering of fur, and made two different sketches of this interpretation. The first shows an odd rounded wing shape with the wing finger seeming to form a stiff “hoop” around to the ankles, but the second version has some interesting additions – showing an understanding of the wing finger being straightened and stretching out the membrane, and adding a very large colugo-likepropatagium between the neck and the wrist.
In light of our modern understanding of pterosaurs this was an incredibly good attempt at a reconstruction, despite the total lack of soft tissue impressions and the mistaken mammal classification.
The name Pterodactylus was established for this animal by the late 1810s, and while it was correctly identified as a flying reptile by some early paleontologists, others also saw it as being more mammal-like or bird-like.
In this pre-Darwinian time there was no modern concept of evolutionary relationships, and pterosaurs were instead thought to be a type of bat positioned inbetween mammals and birds in the “chain of being”. This “bat model” became influential on the early study of pterosaurs, and some paleontologists depicted highly mammalian versions even as late as the 1940s.
(The aquatic interpretation also stuck around as a competing idea until at least 1930, with Pterodactylus’ wings restored as huge penguin-like flippers.)
1850s-1970s
By the mid-19th century the reptile interpretation had become standard but the bat influence remained, with pterosaurs commonly assumed to have been furry, warm-blooded, and quadrupedal and clumsy on the ground. Fossil evidence of hair-like fuzz had even been found on a specimen of Scaphognathus in the 1830s, but this was later disputed and was only confirmed as being real almost two centuries later.
British paleontologist Richard Owen disagreed with the bat model for pterosaurs, considering them to be scaly sluggish cold-blooded gliders, and in the 1850s oversaw the creation of the heavily-scaled and oddly goose-like Crystal Palace Pterodactylusstatues – one of their first major portrayals to the general public, and influential in the popular perception of these animals at the time.
But even into the start of the 20th century some paleontologists were still arguing for active warm-blooded pterosaurs, with the first popular book on the group in 1901 suggesting they were closely related to birds. German paleontologists continued to interpret pterosaurs this way into the 1930s, but in contrast English and American scientists largely lost interest in these animals over subsequent decades – and depictions of pterosaurs went the same way as non-avian dinosaurs during this period, descending into awkward evolutionary failures that could barely even fly, shown as scaly-skinned or naked, and hanging upside-down from trees and cliffsides like giant wrinkly bats.
2020s
The discovery of definite hair-like structures (known as pycnofibers) on Sordes brought pterosaurs into their own renaissance in the 1970s, and among a flood of new discoveries they were reinterpreted as active warm-blooded bird-like animals. Reconstructions sometimes went a bit too bird-like, though, attempting to distance themselves from the older saggy-repto-bat portrayals, with forced bipedal postures and much more slender wing membranes attaching to the waist.
But early 21st century studies into biomechanics, soft-tissue remains, and trackways confirmed that some elements of the bat model had actually been right the whole time. Pterosaurs had flight membranes attached to their hind limbs and were quadrupedal when on the ground – but instead of being awkward bat-like sprawlers they were actually competent walkers and runners with an energy-efficient upright posture.
We now know Pterodactylus lived during the Late Jurassic, about 150-148 million, at a time when the region of southern Germany was part of an island archipelago in a shallow tropical sea. Fragmentary remains are also known from elsewhere in Europe and in Africa, suggesting this genus had a fairly wide range.
It was a fairly small pterosaur, with the largest adults having am estimated wingspan of around 1m (3'3"), and had long straight jaws lined with numerous pointed teeth. Most known specimens are juveniles, but fossils of larger adults preserve evidence of a soft tissue crest with a backwards-pointing “lappet”, and long mane-like pycnofibers on the back of the neck.
Like other pterosaurs it was fuzzy and warm-blooded, and it had hollow bird-like bones and air sacs lightening its body. Its wings were highly complex with layers of strengthening fibers and muscles that allowed the flight surface shape to be precisely controlled, and when walking on the ground it could fold up its wing fingers and stow the membranes well out of the way of its limbs.
It was probably a generalist carnivore, feeding mostly on small prey like invertebrates, and the shape of the sclerotic rings in its eye sockets suggest it was mainly active during the daytime.
Pterosaurs, flying reptiles and close relatives of the dinosaurs, already developed feathers of different shapes and colours. This has been proven by a 115 million year old Brazilian fossil, studied by a team of palaeontologists. ‘Coloured feathers were used to show off’, says palaeontologist Aude Cincotta of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (@rbins). ‘Our study suggests that coloured feathers could already have appeared in the common ancestor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs.’
An international team of palaeontologists and geologists has found new evidence that pterosaurs had feathers of various colours. The discovery provides more insight into the origin and function of primitive feathers. The researchers published their findings in Nature.
The team from Brazil, Ireland, Belgium and France studied a 115 million-year-old pterosaur fossil from the Crato Formation in north-eastern Brazil. The fossil of this Tupandactylus imperator consists of the skull topped by an enormous crest of soft tissue, that has not been fossilized, but of which the imprint has been preserved. Feathers were attached to the base of the crest.
‘This is a spectacular discovery,’ says researcher Aude Cincotta (RBINS), who led the study. ‘For a long time, there was discussion about whether pterosaurs had feathers. As of now, we have firm evidence that this was indeed the case, and that the feathers were quite complex. We were able to distinguish two types of feathers in this Brazilian fossil: elongated, unbranched feathers and small branched feathers. The discovery of branched feathers is new in pterosaurs. They were only known for certain carnivorous dinosaurs, the theropods, ancestors of birds.’
Showing off
A second important finding: fossil melanosomes. These are microscopic structures in the skin and in certain organs that contain the pigment melanin. In today’s birds, the shape of these melanosomes determines the color of the feathers. The analysis shows that the melanosomes in the two types of pterosaur feathers as well as in the soft-tissue crest have a different shape (elongated, ovoid or spheroid). These differences were only known in theropod dinosaurs (including birds).
This study shows that pterosaurs already had feathers with colour variations and that they were probably used for visual communication and display: to show off. The fact that these pigmented feathers are found in both dinosaurs and pterosaurs suggests that their common ancestor in the Middle or Late Triassic (about 250 to 200 million years ago) already had the ability to sport colored feathers.
Safeguarding fossils
Thanks to cooperation between Belgian and Brazilian scientists, national authorities, and a private collector, the pterosaur fossil could be repatriated to Brazil in February 2022. ‘It is so important that scientifically important fossils such as this one are returned to their countries of origin and safely conserved for posterity,’ says Edio-Ernst Kischlat of the Brazilian Geological Service, who co-authored the study. ‘These fossils can then be made available to scientists for further study and can inspire future generations of scientists through public exhibitions that celebrate our natural heritage.’
So i heard Giant of the Skies had it’s 22nd anniversary a few days back
But the narrator says that he died on the same beach where he mated for the first time X* years ago. And he tried to land in the middle of the ‘mating area’** like he always used to do but that last time there was younger and more aggressive males and that’s why he could’t land there and ended up to the edge of the ‘mating area’. And of course the females choose strong males who can get a good spot in middle of the area.
*I don’t remember how many years ago it was
**I don’t know what it’s called in the English version
If giraffes were predators they would look both hilarious and terrifying while sneaking up on their prey
I’m afraid you’ve missed the predatory giraffes by about 66 million years mate.
These guys are Azhdarchid pterosaurs, and they were some of the strangest reptiles to ever exist. They were perfectly capable of flight, but their physiology suggests that they may have spent a significant portion of their lives hunting on the ground.
The largest of them could reach over 5 metres tall while standing, and had a 10-metre wingspan. They varied greatly in body type, from the tall, spindly forms of Quetzalcoatlus andArambourgiania (images 4 and 1-2 respectively) to the heavy brute strength of Hatzegopteryz, a species that may have used its head to bludgeon its prey (images 2 and 3).
There has never been another flying animal before or since to have reached such incredible sizes, nor any predator so intimidatingly tall. Well, not any that we know of yet.
All of these illustrations are by Mark Witton, a palaeontologist and artist who specialises in pterosaurs. This is his blog about palaeontology and the science of reconstructing extinct species. You can find out more about each of these images here,hereandhere.
(Oh, and by the way … these are NOT dinosaurs)
What the hell these are so intimidating, why aren’t these in any dinosaur movies
Just imagine it …
The protagonists and a few disposable minor characters are walking carefully through a forest at night, covered by a thick fog. They know there are dinosaurs everywhere, but they can’t see more than three metres in front of their own faces.
Eventually they stop near a small cluster of trees to rest. As they sit there, exhausted, one of the trees begins to move. Everyone freezes, terrified. They have no idea what this thing is.
Then a massive beak slams down, longer than a person is tall, and plucks one of the minor characters off his feet and into the air.
The small group erupts into movement, frantically running away from whatever those things are. There’s two of them now, and as the fog begins to clear the group are able to make out more of their shape. They are huge, with long, spindly necks topped with a massive, daggerlike head. The long legs that they once mistook for trees have an almost mechanical movement as the giant creatures stalk towards them. And then comes the next terrible surprise.
These things can run.
It’s a short film.
How could those things possibly fly? Could they take off from the ground or did they need a cliff like bats do?
(The pterosaur in the video I linked isn’t an azhdarchid, but it gets the general picture across)
because it wasn’t terrifying enough already….
How does something that big have hollow bones though? Wouldn’t they break under the pressure of pole vaulting themselves?
Basically, azhdarchid bones aren’t just “hollow”. They’re actually full of an incredibly complex network of spongy strands of bone that functions almost like scaffolding to support the bones and make them a lot stronger than they would initially appear. A lot of dinosaurs, including very large ones, had this same sort of bone structure as well.
It’s a delicate balance between being light enough to fly and strong enough to take off and staying in the air, but they certainly weren’t skinny, lightweight pushovers like they’re often portrayed.
