How could they possibly know this?
Maybe it’s just an educated guess.
So, then, I will make a guess too; The pterodactyls would benefit from learning to fly early, because they very soon became massively heavy. If you don’t know how to fly before you weigh a quarter ton, then it’s too late. You will wander about the plains, flightless and earthbound as an Emu until something eats you or until you run out of food.
“... You will wander about the plains, flightless and earthbound as an Emu until something eats you or until you run out of food....”
Sounds the text of a curse made by an old grizzled wizard in a sword and sorcery novel... :^)!!!
The discovery of more advanced embryos in China and Argentina that died just before they hatched provided the evidence that pterodactyls had the ability to fly from birth. Dr David Unwin said: “Theoretically what pterosaurs did, growing and flying, is impossible, but they didn’t know this, so they did it anyway.” Cause I said so!
Another fundamental difference between baby pterodactyls, also known as flaplings, and baby birds or bats, is that they had no parental care and had to feed and look after themselves from birth. They were clearly abandoned because... Oh yeah, because I said so!
For my next grant I will be discussing Global Warming because....