Jim
Justified & Ancient
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Pterodactyls didn't fly like bats, new research shows
Pterosaurs are key figures in the story of the evolution of flight. But new research suggests the flying reptiles didn't take to the air like bats, as has been previously suggested.
"Most of the work that's being done right now to understand pterosaur flight relies on the assumption that their hips could get into a bat-like pose," Armita Manafzadeh, a doctoral student at Brown University, said in a news release. "We think future studies should take into account that this pose was likely impossible, which might change our perspective when we consider the evolution of flight in pterosaurs and dinosaurs."
Ligaments dictate a joint's range of motion, but soft tissues are rarely preserved by fossilization. How are paleontologists to determine the movements allowed by the joints of long extinct species?
... Using a dead bird, Manafzadeh carved away at the muscle surrounding joints. She recorded X-ray videos as she manipulated the bird's joints, pausing to get detailed images of the positions in which the ligaments prevented further movement.
Next, Manafzadeh cut out the ligaments and repeated the process, contorting the bird's limbs into all sorts of positions, stopping only when bone touched bone or when further movement caused a bone to pop out of its socket.
Her experiment -- detailed in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B -- showed that 95 percent of the movements and positions achieved without ligaments were not possible with ligaments.
Next, Manafzadeh and her research partner ... had to figure out how a quail's hip joint compared to the hip joint of a pterosaur.
Because bat limbs look a lot like those of pterosaurs, paleontologists have assumed the wings of flying reptiles worked a lot like those of bats. Bats' wings are attached to their hind limbs, so splaying their back limps helps to achieve helpful aerodynamics.
Manafzadeh's analysis showed such a position would have been impossible for pterosaurs to achieve. While the quail model was able to achieve a bat-like position without ligaments, the bird's ligaments prevented its hind legs from being stretched so far apart. The ligament that prevents such a motion is found in a majority of birds and reptiles related to pterosaurs.
More important than discrediting a common assumption about the flying positions of pterosaurs, the new research offers a blueprint for more accurately characterizing the motions allowed by the joints of extinct species. ...
This newly published study overturns some longstanding assumptions about pterosaurs' movements / motions relating to their flight. The joint mobility assessment approach used here may have broad applicability to analyzing the motions of other extinct animals.
SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Science_News/20.../?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=3
ABSTRACT for the published paper: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/285/1879/20180727
BTW good shot of that nasty tail club. Ankylosaurs were amazing beast. Members of the Ankylosaur and Ceratopsians had to be the most formidable herbivores to have ever lived.There is no Dana, only Zuul Crurivastator.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...led-zuul-ghostbusters-ankylosaur-paleontology
Fearsome bony spikes jut from the skull of Zuul crurivastator, one of the most complete armored dinosaurs ever found. Zuul's demonic looks inspired researchers to name it after a monster from the film Ghostbusters—but the animal thirsted for buds, not blood; Zuul was an herbivore.
Just read this ankylosaurs were formidable beast. The only one apex predators a large a Tyrannosaur could defeat it. It was the only dinosaur group that had the jaw strength and structure to penetrate the ankylosaurs armor, not an easy task. By that time it may have been beaten with the ankylosaurs formidable club which could break leg bones. These battles likely occurred quite often.There is no Dana, only Zuul Crurivastator.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...led-zuul-ghostbusters-ankylosaur-paleontology
Fearsome bony spikes jut from the skull of Zuul crurivastator, one of the most complete armored dinosaurs ever found. Zuul's demonic looks inspired researchers to name it after a monster from the film Ghostbusters—but the animal thirsted for buds, not blood; Zuul was an herbivore.
Baby T. Rex Was an Adorable Ball of Fluff
It may be hard to imagine towering Tyrannosaurus rex as tiny, but the toothy Cretaceous giant didn't spring from an egg fully grown. In fact, T. rex hatchlings were about the size of very skinny turkeys, with "arms" that were longer in proportion to their tiny bodies than in adults. And each baby T. rex was covered in a coat of downy feathers.
What's more, T. rex's feathers likely grew along the animal's head and tail into adulthood, according to new reconstructions that represent the most accurate models of the dinosaur to date. ...
This cute little goofus represents the latest hypothetical reconstruction of a young T. Rex's appearance ...
FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/64936-t-rex-new-look-exhibit.html
This surely has to be one of the most astounding publications...That's not a beak - it's simply the bare snout.
This is far more apparent if you go to the linked Live Science webpage and check the animated GIF at the top of the article. It illustrates the latest reconstruction of an even younger T. Rex hatchling.
The thing is that with some of the larger theropods the verdict is still out as to whether they were covered with scales or feathers. Excuse the adds but this article brings up some points of interest on this.This cute little goofus represents the latest hypothetical reconstruction of a young T. Rex's appearance ...
FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/64936-t-rex-new-look-exhibit.html
Quite a lot of words (and adverts) before they reach the conclusion that "nobody knows".The thing is that with some of the larger theropods the verdict is still out as to whether they were covered with scales or feathers. Excuse the adds but this article brings up some points of interest on this.
https://www.safariltd.com/blog/tyrannosaurus-rex-feathered-or-scaly