A prehistoric 'runway' used by flying reptiles
Landing tracks of pterosaurs date back about 140 million years
Aug. 18, 2009
A prehistoric runway for flying pterosaurs has been discovered for the first time.
Scientists uncovered the first known landing tracks of one of these extinct flying reptiles at a site dubbed “
The footprints suggest the pterosaur '" a “pterodactyloid” with a wingspan roughly 3 feet (1 meter) wide '" flapped to stall its flight during landing, and then planted both of its 2-inch-long (5-centimeter-long) feet simultaneously at a high angle.
The reptile next dragged its toes briefly, took a short “stutter step” '" perhaps a hop with both feet '" and landed, settling its hands. It finally adjusted its posture and ambled off normally on all fours.
“No other track ways ascribed to pterosaurs in the world have shown either landings or takeoffs,” said researcher Kevin Padian, a palaeontologist at the
Pterosaurs, like birds, “were very light animals and didn’t tend to leave as many tracks when compared to, say, a 50-ton sauropod,” the largest dinosaurs to ever stride Earth, explained palaeontologist David Hone at the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Paleoanthropology of China in Beijing, who did not participate in this study.
“If tracks from pterosaurs are going to get preserved, it’s likely to be in the softest mud or finest sands, and it’s unlikely even then, so to get traces of a pterosaur landing like this is very exciting,” Hone noted. He added that the case the researchers make for the way the pterosaurs landed “is very strong and convincing.”
The fact this pterosaur had the capability to stall during flight implies sophisticated flapping control of the wings, Padian said. Future research will hopefully uncover tracks made during takeoff, shedding further light on how these extinct creatures once flew.
“There are hundreds of track ways in this big quarry,” Padian said.
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T. K. Unni
wonderful research,thanks Unni ji.