The pterosaur Thalassodromeus sethi would have soared the skies above what is now Brazil some 110 million years ago, dwarfing other creatures with its 14-foot-long (4.3 meters) wingspan. Credit: ©AMNH 2014
Posted on 06/30/2014 12:45:21 PM PDT by Renfield
Want to find the nearest pterosaur? There's an app for that — or a database, at least.
A newly developed website catalogs more than 1,300 specimens of extinct flying reptiles called pterosaurs, thus enabling users to map out the ancient creatures on Google Earth. The goal is to help researchers find trends in the evolution and diversity of these ancient winged reptiles.
"Having a very specific database like this, which is just for looking at individual fossil specimens of pterosaurs, is very helpful, because you can ask questions that you couldn't have answered with bigger databases [of more animals]," said Matthew McLain, a doctoral candidate in paleontology at Loma Linda University in California and one of the three developers of the site. McLain and his colleagues call their database PteroTerra. [Pterosaur Photos: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs]....
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
The pterosaur Thalassodromeus sethi would have soared the skies above what is now Brazil some 110 million years ago, dwarfing other creatures with its 14-foot-long (4.3 meters) wingspan. Credit: ©AMNH 2014
Pterosaur ping...
What do you call a pterosaur with a superior glide ratio?
PT Cruiser
A: Pteriffic
What is the maximum velocity of a pterosaur?
African or European?
Have to compliment this Pterosaur on his good taste in snacks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKCTPSY6lf4
166 ft/sec, squared
Awesome
Flying Reptiles: A Lesson in Specialized Function
by John D. Morris, Ph.D.
http://www.icr.org/article/flying-reptiles-lesson-specialized/
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