Jurassic Park was wrong! Pterodactyls didn’t fly like bats

You’ve never seen one soar through the skies before, but chances are you have a distinct mental picture of what a pterodactyl may have looked like.

From movies to artists’ renderings, the common image of pterosaurs has long suggested the winged reptiles assumed a pose now seen among bats, with their hind limbs splayed apart during flight.

But, new research suggests this may not have been the case.

A new study considering their soft tissues suggests ligaments would have limited the joint motion, preventing their hips from taking on a bat-like pose.

From movies to artists’ renderings, the common image of pterosaurs has long suggested the winged reptiles assumed a pose now seen among bats, with their hind limbs splayed apart during flight. But, new research suggests this may not have been the case

‘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,’ said Armita Manafzadeh, a PhD student at Brown University.

‘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.’

The latest research relied on the closest living relative of extinct pterosaurs and four-winged dinosaurs – a bird.

Researchers cut away the muscles around the hip joints of a dead quail, capturing X-ray videos while manipulating the joints.

Then, they mapped out the range of motion with the ligaments attached.

Considering the soft tissues, namely the ligaments, paints a vastly different picture of motion than the bones alone, the researcher explains, pointing to the example of a grocery store chicken.

‘If you pick up a raw chicken at the grocery store and move its joints, you’ll reach a point where you’ll hear a pop,’ Manafzadeh says.

The latest research relied on the closest living relative of extinct pterosaurs and four-winged dinosaurs – a bird. Researchers cut away the muscles around the hip joints of a dead quail, capturing X-ray videos while manipulating the joints. Then, they mapped out the range

The latest research relied on the closest living relative of extinct pterosaurs and four-winged dinosaurs – a bird. Researchers cut away the muscles around the hip joints of a dead quail, capturing X-ray videos while manipulating the joints. Then, they mapped out the range

To assume the bat pose, the ligament would have to stretch 63 percent more than the quail ligament can, the researcher says

To assume the bat pose, the ligament would have to stretch 63 percent more than the quail ligament can, the researcher says

‘That’s the ligaments snapping. But if I handed you a chicken skeleton without the ligaments, you might think that its joints could do all kinds of crazy things.

‘So the question is, if you were to dig up a fossil chicken, how would you think its joints could move, and how wrong would you be?’

According to the researcher, over 95 percent of the joint positions that seemed to work with the bones only could not be achieved with the ligaments attached.

As pterosaurs had wings made of skin and supported by a fourth finger, much like bats, it’s long been assumed they flew like the living mammal as well.

But, the quail study suggests one particular ligament found in many of the birds and reptiles related to pterosaurs would have inhibited the splayed motion.

According to the researcher, over 95 percent of the joint positions that seemed to work with the bones only could not be achieved with the ligaments attached

According to the researcher, over 95 percent of the joint positions that seemed to work with the bones only could not be achieved with the ligaments attached

WHAT KILLED THE DINOSAURS?

Around 65 million years ago non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out and more than half the world’s species were obliterated.

This mass extinction paved the way for the rise of mammals and the appearance of humans.

The Chicxulub asteroid is often cited as a potential cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.

The asteroid slammed into a shallow sea in what is now the Gulf of Mexico.

The collision released a huge dust and soot cloud that triggered global climate change, wiping out 75 per cent of all animal and plan species.

Researchers claim that the soot necessary for such a global catastrophe could only have come from a direct impact on rocks in shallow water around Mexico, which are especially rich in hydrocarbons.

Within 10 hours of the impact, a massive tsunami waved ripped through the Gulf coast, experts believe.

Around 65 million years ago non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out and more than half the world's species were obliterated. The Chicxulub asteroid is often cited as a potential cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event (stock image)

Around 65 million years ago non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out and more than half the world’s species were obliterated. The Chicxulub asteroid is often cited as a potential cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event (stock image)

This caused earthquakes and landslides in areas as far as Argentina.

But while the waves and eruptions were  The creatures living at the time were not just suffering from the waves – the heat was much worse.

While investigating the event researchers found small particles of rock and other debris that was shot into the air when the asteroid crashed.

Called spherules, these small particles covered the planet with a thick layer of soot.

Experts explain that losing the light from the sun caused a complete collapse in the aquatic system.

This is because the phytoplankton base of almost all aquatic food chains would have been eliminated.

It’s believed that the more than 180 million years of evolution that brought the world to the Cretaceous point was destroyed in less than the lifetime of a Tyrannosaurus rex, which is about 20 to 30 years.

To assume the bat pose, the ligament would have to stretch 63 percent more than the quail ligament can, the researcher says.

‘That’s a huge difference that would need to be accounted for before it can be argued that a pterosaur or ‘four-winged dinosaur’s hip would be able to get into this bat-like pose,’ Manafzadeh said.

The study could make for more reliable reconstructions of how long-extinct creatures once moved.

‘What we’ve done is to provide a reliable way to quantify in 3D everything a joint can do,’ the researcher says. 

 



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