Wikipedia

Pterosaur size

Pterosaurs included the largest flying animals ever to have lived. They are a clade of prehistoric archosaurian reptiles closely related to dinosaurs. Species among pterosaurs occupied several types of environments, which ranged from aquatic to forested. Below are the lists that comprise the smallest and the largest pterosaurs known as of 2022.

Restoration of two Arambourgiania

Smallest pterosaurs

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The smallest known pterosaur is Nemicolopterus with a wingspan of about 25 cm (10 in).[1] The specimen found may be a juvenile or a subadult, however, and adults may have been larger. Anurognathus is another small pterosaur, with a wingspan of 35 cm (14 in) and 40 g (1.4 oz) in body mass,[2] along with an indeterminate non-pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Portland Formation, although it is indeterminate and known from very fragmentary remains, only including a tooth, and part of the wrist bones.

Pterosaurs with largest wingspan

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Size comparison of Q. northropi (green), Q. lawsoni. (blue), and a human.

This is a list of pterosaurs with estimated maximum wingspan of more than 5 meters (16 feet):

  1. Hatzegopteryx thambema 10–12 m (33–39 ft)[3][4][5]
  2. Quetzalcoatlus northropi 10–11 m (33–36 ft)[3][5]
  3. Cryodrakon boreas 10 m (33 ft)[5]
  4. Undescribed specimen from Mongolia 10 m (33 ft)[6][7]
  5. Thanatosdrakon amaru 9 m (30 ft)[8]
  6. Arambourgiania philadelphiae 8–9 m (26–30 ft)[5]
  7. Tropeognathus mesembrinus 8.26–8.7 m (27–29 ft)[9][10]
  8. Pteranodon longiceps 7.25–7.6 m (23.8–24.9 ft)[11][12]
  9. Thapunngaka shawi 6–7 m (20–23 ft)[13]
  10. Alanqa saharica 6 m (20 ft)[14][5]
  11. Santanadactylus araripensis 5.7 m (19 ft)[15]
  12. Cearadactylus atrox 5.5 m (18 ft)[15]

The largest of non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs as well as the largest Jurassic pterosaur[16] was Dearc, with an estimated wingspan between 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in) and 3.8 m (12 ft).[17] Only a fragmentary rhamphorhynchid specimen from Germany could be larger (184 % the size of the biggest Rhamphorhynchus).[18] Other huge non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs are Sericipterus, Campylognathoides and Harpactognathus, with the wingspan of 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in),[19] 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in),[19] and 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in),[18] respectively. Middle Jurassic Angustinaripterus had a wingspan of 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in).[20]

Speculation about pterosaur size and flight

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Size comparison of Tropeognathus

Some species of pterosaurs grew to very large sizes and this has implications for their capacity for flight. Many pterosaurs were small but the largest had wingspans which exceeded 9 m (30 ft). The largest of these are estimated to have weighed 250 kilograms (550 lb). For comparison, the wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of living birds at up to 3.5 m (11 ft) but usually weighs less than 12 kilograms (26 lb). This indicates that the largest pterosaurs may have had higher wing loadings than modern birds (depending on wing profile) and this has implications for the manner in which pterosaur flight might differ from that of modern birds.

Factors such as the warmer climate of the Mesozoic or higher levels of atmospheric oxygen have been proposed but it is now generally agreed that even the largest pterosaurs could have flown in today's skies.[21] Partly, this is due to the presence of air sacs in their wing membranes,[22] and that pterosaurs launched into flight using their front limbs in a quadrupedal stance similar to that of modern bats, a method faster and less energy taxing than the bipedal launching of modern birds.[23][24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wang, X.; Kellner, A.W.A.; Zhou, Z.; Campos, D.A. (2008). "Discovery of a rare arboreal forest-dwelling flying reptile (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from China". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (6): 1983–1987. Bibcode:2008PNAS..105.1983W. doi:10.1073/pnas.0707728105. PMC 2538868. PMID 18268340.
  2. ^ Witton, M.P. (2008) "A new approach to determining pterosaur body mass and its implications for pterosaur flight". Zitteliania B28: 143-159
  3. ^ a b Witton, Mark P.; Martill, David M.; Loveridge, Robert F. (2010). "Clipping the Wings of Giant Pterosaurs: Comments on Wingspan Estimations and Diversity". Acta Geoscientica Sinica. 31 (Supp 1): 79–81.
  4. ^ Naish, D.; Witton, M.P. (2017). "Neck biomechanics indicate that giant Transylvanian azhdarchid pterosaurs were short-necked arch predators". PeerJ. 5: e2908. doi:10.7717/peerj.2908. PMC 5248582. PMID 28133577.
  5. ^ a b c d e Paul, Gregory S. (2022). The Princeton Field Guide to Pterosaurs. Princeton University Press. pp. 155–172. doi:10.1515/9780691232218. ISBN 9780691232218. S2CID 249332375.
  6. ^ Takanobu Tsuihiji, Brian Andres, Patrick M O'Connor, Mahito Watabe, Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar, Mainbayar Buuvei (2017). "Gigantic pterosaurian remains from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (5): e1361431. Bibcode:2017JVPal..37E1431T. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1361431. S2CID 134424023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Ancient Winged Terror Was One of the Largest Animals to Fly". 31 October 2017. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019.
  8. ^ Ortiz David, Leonardo D.; González Riga, Bernardo J.; Kellner, Alexander W. A. (12 April 2022). "Thanatosdrakon amaru, gen. ET SP. NOV., a giant azhdarchid pterosaur from the upper Cretaceous of Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 135: 105228. Bibcode:2022CrRes.13705228O. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105228. S2CID 248140163. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  9. ^ Kellner, A. W. A.; Campos, D. A.; Sayão, J. M.; Saraiva, A. N. A. F.; Rodrigues, T.; Oliveira, G.; Cruz, L. A.; Costa, F. R.; Silva, H. P.; Ferreira, J. S. (2013). "The largest flying reptile from Gondwana: A new specimen of Tropeognathus cf. T. Mesembrinus Wellnhofer, 1987 (Pterodactyloidea, Anhangueridae) and other large pterosaurs from the Romualdo Formation, Lower Cretaceous, Brazil". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 85 (1): 113–135. doi:10.1590/S0001-37652013000100009. PMID 23538956.
  10. ^ Rodrigues, T.; Kellner, A. (2013). "Taxonomic review of the Ornithocheirus complex (Pterosauria) from the Cretaceous of England". ZooKeys (308): 1–112. Bibcode:2013ZooK..308....1R. doi:10.3897/zookeys.308.5559. PMC 3689139. PMID 23794925.
  11. ^ Bennett, S.C. (1994). "The Pterosaurs of the Niobrara Chalk". The Earth Scientist. 11 (1): 22–25.
  12. ^ Witton, Mark Paul (2010). "Pteranodon and beyond: The history of giant pterosaurs from 1870 onwards". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 343 (1): 313–323. Bibcode:2010GSLSP.343..313W. doi:10.1144/SP343.19. S2CID 128801077 – via ResearchGate.
  13. ^ Timothy M. Richards; Paul E. Stumkat; Steven W. Salisbury (2021). "A new species of crested pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea, Anhangueridae) from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) of Richmond, North West Queensland, Australia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (3): e1946068. Bibcode:2021JVPal..41E6068R. doi:10.1080/02724634.2021.1946068.
  14. ^ Ibrahim, Nizar; Unwin, David M; Martill, David M; Baidder, Lahssen; Zouhri, Samir (2010). "A New Pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco". PLOS ONE. 5 (5): e10875. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...510875I. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010875. PMC 2877115. PMID 20520782.
  15. ^ a b Wellnhofer, P. (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. pp. 124. ISBN 0-7607-0154-7.
  16. ^ "Fossil of largest Jurassic pterosaur found on Skye". BBC News. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  17. ^ Natalia Jagielska; Michael O’Sullivan; Gregory F. Funston; et al. (February 2022). "A skeleton from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland illuminates an earlier origin of large pterosaurs". Current Biology. 32: 1–8. doi:10.1016/J.CUB.2022.01.073. ISSN 0960-9822. Wikidata Q110984418.
  18. ^ a b Spindler, Frederik; Ifrim, Christina (2021). "Die Spur einer Spur – ein möglicher erster Flugsaurier aus Ettling Trace of a trace – a putative first pterosaur from the Ettling locality". Archaeopteryx. 37: 75–83.
  19. ^ a b Andres, B.; Clark, J. M.; Xing, X. (2010). "A new rhamphorhynchid pterosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Xinjiang, China, and the phylogenetic relationships of basal pterosaurs" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (1): 163–187. Bibcode:2010JVPal..30..163A. doi:10.1080/02724630903409220. S2CID 53688256. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2021.
  20. ^ Wellnhofer, 1991
  21. ^ Witton, Mark P. (2013). Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691150613.
  22. ^ Claessens, Leon P. A. M.; O'Connor, Patrick M.; Unwin, David M. (February 18, 2009). "Respiratory Evolution Facilitated the Origin of Pterosaur Flight and Aerial Gigantism". PLOS ONE. 4 (3): e4497. Bibcode:2009PLoSO...4.4497C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004497. PMC 2637988. PMID 19223979.
  23. ^ Fox, Stuart (May 1, 2009). "How Giant Pterosaurs Took Flight". Scientific American. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  24. ^ Witton, Mark P. (2013). Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691150613.
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