Download Alternative introduction

Fossil Pterosaurs
An introduction to the order
Pterosauria.
The Pterosaur Database - July 2006
www.pterosaur.co.uk
The Pterosaur Database
What are pterosaurs
• They are not dinosaurs……
• They are not birds……..
• Pterosaurs were an order to themselves, related
to primitive dinosaurs.
• They appeared in the Late Triassic Era and were
around until the end of the Cretaceous Era.
The Pterosaur Database
Pteranodon is
a well known
pterosaur
This large species was common world
wide about 75 million years ago
The Pterosaur Database
In 1914, Hankin and
Watson published a
paper on the flight of
pterosaurs.
This work was based on
the fossil remains of
Pteranodon.
Later, in 1974, Bramwell
and Whitfield calculated
the flight characteristics
of this large species.
This was followed by a
radio controlled model
to prove the
calculations.
Hankin E. H., & Watson D. M. S., 1914, On the flight
of pterodactyls. Aeronautical Journal 18, 324–335.
The Pterosaur Database
In 1985 the BBC featured
a flying pterosaur
designed and built by
Stephen Winkworth. The
broadcast was shown in
January 1985 on the
program “Pterodactylus
lives”.
The model flew on
the Cliffs above the
Dorset coast, England.
Bramwell, C. D. & Whitfield, G. R. 1974
Biomechanics of Pteranodon. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society, London,
B.267, pp.503-581
The Pterosaur Database
Pterosaur Research
This has been happening since the first pterosaur
fossil was discovered in 1784 by a famous Italian
scientist called Cosimo Collini.
At the Palace at Manheim, Germany in 1759, a fossil
was found in a cupboard by Karl Theodor. He handed
the fossil over to Collini to identify in 1764.
This was found to be the first ever recorded find of a
fossil Pteodactyle (wing-finger). Collini called the
specimen Pterodactylus antiquus in his scientific
paper.
The Pterosaur Database
Pterodactylus antiquus
Collini, C A. 1784 Sur quelques Zoolithes du Cabinet d’Histoire naturelle de S. A. S.
E. Palatine & de Bavière, à Mannheim. Acta Theodoro-Palatinae Mannheim 5 Pars
Physica, pp. 58–103 (1 plate).
The Pterosaur Database
Classification
• Pterosaurs are classified into two sub-orders.
• Rhamphorhynchoidea with a long tail and a
short wing metacarpal.
• Pterodactyloidea with a short tail and a long
wing metacarpal.
Due to evolutionary convergence, the exact
classification of pterosaurs will always be
problematical.
The Pterosaur Database
The Rhamphorhynchoidea appear in the Late
Triassic and continue well into the Upper
Jurassic.
These pterosaurs show continued
development throughout, but generally have
large teeth indicating carnivorous feeding
habits.
A few of the later and more advanced species
show tail length reduction.
The Pterosaur Database
The Pterodactyloidea show advanced features from
the Upper Jurassic, where they seem to occupy a
wide range of ecological niches.
At this time, diversity of form indicates a successful
dominance of the air.
In the Cretaceous, with the evolving bird species, the
smaller pterosaurs seem unable to compete.
However, larger species are still dominant, and very
successful.
All of the pterosaurs disappear at the end of the
Cretaceous and no evidence is found after the KT
boundary.
The Pterosaur Database
Classifying pterosaur bone fragments is an interesting pass time
– It is not an easy task, but it is often the only way to analyze the
species that existed between the spectacular finds.
The Pterosaur Database