According to a new study published by palaeontologists in England and the United States, not only did the giraffe-sized lizard, known as pterosaur, fly, it flew incredibly long distances.
The research by Drs. Mark Witton and Michael Habib was published today in the journal PLoS One and attempts to settle the dispute over whether, considering its size and skeletal weight, pterosaur could actually get off the ground in the first place.
''These creatures were not birds, they were flying reptiles with a distinctly different skeletal structure, wing proportions and muscle mass, " Witton told The Telegraph. ''They would have achieved flight in a completely different way to birds and would have had a lower angle of takeoff and initial flight trajectory. The anatomy of these creatures is unique.''
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While birds developed light, hollow bones in order to fly, pterosaurs needed stronger, reinforced skeletons to support their rough-and-tumble methods of flight. The family contained the largest flying creatures ever discovered, including Quetzalcoatlus, which was named after the Aztec feathered serpent deity. The study suggests that the pterosaur launched itself into the air not just with its legs but with powerful arm muscles as well.Once it was aloft, the soaring creature could remain airborne for hundreds of miles, sometimes even spanning whole continents, the study says.
Read more at The Telegraph.
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