Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T10:23:39.770Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Flight characteristics of Triassic and Jurassic Pterosauria: an appraisal based on wing shape

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2016

Grant A. Hazlehurst  and
Jeremy M. V. Rayner
Grant A. Hazlehurst
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, United Kingdom
Jeremy M. V. Rayner
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, United Kingdom
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The mass, wingspan, and wing area of pterosaurs were reconstructed. Mass was estimated by determining volume and multiplying by avian density. This method was considered appropriate only for smaller pterosaur species because there is evidence for lower density in larger species. These reconstructions were used to compare the wing shapes of Triassic and Jurassic pterosaurs with those of birds. Pterosaurs had wings of below-average loading and above-average aspect compared to the avian mean. This wing design was compatible with relatively slow and highly efficient flight, with high maneuverability. Wing area depends on the reconstruction model adopted; wings attached to the hindlimb principally reduced aspect, and secondarily reduced loading, which would improve take-off performance at the expense of efficiency. The wing shape and cranial feeding adaptations of pterosaurs were most compatible with a marine or aerial predatory adaptive zone. The reconstructed pterosaurs show a limited range of wing shape compared to birds. This may partly reflect preservational bias favoring species living in marine or lagoonal environments, but this is not a complete explanation because there is a lack of pterosaurs with wings of high loading like the marine ducks and auks. Structural, physiological, or adaptive factors may have limited pterosaur wing shape.

Type
Research Article
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , Fall 1992 , pp. 447 - 463
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Abel, O. 1912. Grundzüge der Palaeobiologie der Wirbeltiere. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abel, O. 1919. Neue Rekonstruktion der Flugsauriergattungen Pterodactylus und Rhamphorhynchus. Naturwissenschaften 7:661–665.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, R. M. 1983. Allometry of the leg bones of moas (Dinornithes) and other birds. Journal of Zoology 200:215–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, R. M. 1985. Mechanics of posture and gait in some large dinosaurs. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 83:1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, R. M. 1989. Dynamics of dinosaurs and other extinct giants. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. F., Hall-Martin, A., and Russell, D. A. 1985. Long-bone circumference in mammals, birds and dinosaurs. Journal of Zoology 207:53–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthaber, G. 1921. Über Entwicklung, Ausbildung und Absterben der Flugsaurier. Paläontlogische Zeitschrift 4:1.47Google Scholar
Bakker, R. 1987. The Dinosaur heresies: a revolutionary view of dinosaurs. Longman, Harlow, United Kingdom.Google Scholar
Bonaparte, J. F. 1971. Descripción del cranéo y mandibulas de Pterodaustro guinazui (Pterodactyloidea-Pterodaustriidae nov.), de la formación Lagarcito, San Luis, Argentina. Publicaciones del Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales de Mar del Plata 1:163–272.Google Scholar
Bramwell, C. D. 1971. Aerodynamics of Pteranodon. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 3:313–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bramwell, C. D., and Whitfield, G. R. 1974. Biomechanics of Pteranodon. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 267:503–581.Google Scholar
Broili, F. 1913. Über Pterodactylus micronyx H. v. Meyer. Zeitschrift der deutsches geologischen Gesellschaft Abhandlungen 64 (1912):492–500.Google Scholar
Broili, F. 1924. Ctenochasma ist ein Flugsaurier. Sitzungberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Abteilung 13–30.Google Scholar
Broili, F. 1927. Ein Examplar von Rhamphorhynchus mit Resten von Schwimmhaut. Sitzungberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Abteilung 29-48.Google Scholar
Broili, F. 1938. Beobachtungen an Pterodactylus. Sitzungberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Abteilung139–154.Google Scholar
Brower, J. C. 1983. The aerodynamics of Pteranodon and Nyctosaurus, two large pterosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of Kansas. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 3:84–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brower, J. C., and Veinus, J. 1981. Allometry in pterosaurs. University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions 105:1–32.Google Scholar
Campbell, K. E., and Tonni, E. P. 1983. Size and locomotion in teratorns (Aves: Teratornithidae). Auk 100:390–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colbert, E. H. 1962. The weights of dinosaurs. American Museum Novitates 2076:1–16.Google Scholar
Cott, H. B. 1961. Scientific results of an enquiry into the ecology and economic status of the Nile crocodile (Crocodilus niloticus) in Uganda and Northern Rhodesia. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 29:211–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Currey, J. D., and Alexander, R. M. 1985. The thickness of the walls of tubular bones. Journal of Zoology 206:453–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuvier, G. 1801. (An 9). Extrait d'un ouvrage sur les espéces de quadrupèdes dont on a trouvé les ossemens dans l'intérieur de la terre. Journal de Physique, de Chimie et d'Histoire Naturelle 52:253–267.Google Scholar
Döderlein, L. 1923. Anurognathus ammoni, ein neuer Flugsaurier. Sitzungberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Abteilung 1–46.Google Scholar
Döderlein, L. 1929. Ein Pterodactylus mit Kehlsack und Schwimmhaut. Sitzungberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Abteilung 65–76.Google Scholar
Elzanowski, A. 1983. Birds in Cretaceous ecosystems. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 28:75–92.Google Scholar
Farney, J., and Fleharty, E. D. 1969. Aspect ratio, loading, wingspan and membrane areas of bats. Journal of Mammalogy 50:362–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenewalt, C. H. 1962. Dimensional relationships for flying animals. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 144.Google Scholar
Gross, W. 1937. Über einen neuen Rhamphorhynchus gemmingi H. v. M. des Natur-Museums Senckenberg. Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 437.Google Scholar
Hartman, F. A. 1961. Locomotor mechanisms of birds. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 143.Google Scholar
Hazlehurst, G. A. 1991. The morphometric and flight characteristics of the Pterosauria. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. The University of Bristol, United Kingdom.Google Scholar
Heptonstall, W. B. 1971. An analysis of the flight of the Cretaceous pterodactyl Pteranodon ingens. Scottish Journal of Geology 7:61–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoist, E. von. 1957a. Wie flog Rhamphorhynchus? Natur Volk 87:81–86.Google Scholar
Hoist, E. von. 1957b. Der Saurierflug. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 31:15–22.Google Scholar
Hughes, P. M., Ransome, R. D., and Jones, G. 1989. Aerodynamic constraints on flight ontogeny in free-living greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. Pp. 255–262in Hanák, V., Horácek, I., and Gaisler, J., eds. European bat research 1987. Charles University Press, Prague.Google Scholar
Jaeckel, O. 1913. Die natürlichen Flugapparate der Tiere. Mittelungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins für Neu-Vorpommern und Rügen in Greifswald 45:12–15.Google Scholar
Jain, S. L. 1974. Jurrasic Pterosauria from India. Journal of the Geological Society of India 15:330–335.Google Scholar
Kauffmann, E. G. 1981. Ecological reappraisal of the German Posidonienschiefer (Toarcian) and the stagnant basin model. Pp. 311–381in Gray, J., Boucot, A. J. and Berry, W.B.N., eds. Communities of the past. Hutchinson Ross, Stroudsburg, Pa.Google Scholar
Kripp, D. von 1943. Ein Lebensbild von Pteranodon ingens auf flugtecnischer Grundlage. Nova Acta Leopoldina Abhandlungen der Kaiserlich Leopoldinisch-Carolinisch Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher 12:217–246.Google Scholar
Küchemann, D. 1978. Aerodynamic design of aircraft. Pergamon, London.Google Scholar
Lawson, D. A. 1975. A pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous of West Texas: discovery of the largest flying creature. Science (Washington, D.C.) 187:947–948.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lighthill, M. J. 1975. Aerodynamic aspects of animal flight. Pp. 423–492in Wu, T.Y.T., Brokaw, C. J., and Brennan, C., eds. Swimming and flying in nature, Vol. 2. Plenum, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacCready, P. 1985. The great pterodactyl project. Engineering and Science 49:18–24.Google Scholar
Magnan, A. 1922. Les caractéristiques des oiseaux suivant le mode de vol. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, série Zoologie 5:125–334.Google Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. 1952. The importance of the nervous system in the evolution of animal flight. Evolution 6:127–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMasters, J. H. 1984. Reflections of a paleoaerodynamicist. AIAA Paper 84-2167. Reprinted in Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 29:331–384(1986).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meunier, K. 1959. Die Allometrie des Vogelflügels. Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Zoologie 161:444–482.Google Scholar
Meyer, H. von. 1855. (Letter to Professor Bronn). Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie 326–337.Google Scholar
Nelson, J. B. 1975. The breeding biology of frigate birds—a comparative review. Living Bird 14:113–156.Google Scholar
Norberg, U. M. 1986. Evolutionary convergence in foraging niche and flight morphology in insectivorous aerial-hawking birds and bats. Ornis Scandinavica 17:253–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norberg, U. M., and Rayner, J.M.V. 1987. Ecological morphology and flight in bats (Mammalia; Chiroptera): wing adaptations, flight performance, foraging strategy and echolocation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 316:335–427.Google Scholar
Oehme, H. 1968. Der Flug des Mauerseglers (Apus apus). Biologisches Zentralblatt 87:287–311.Google Scholar
Padian, K. 1979. The wings of pterosaurs: a new look. Discovery 14:21–29.Google Scholar
Padian, K. 1983. A functional analysis of flying and walking in pterosaurs. Paleobiology 9:218–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Padian, K. 1985. The origins and aerodynamics of flight in extinct vertebrates. Palaeontology 28:413–433.Google Scholar
Padian, K. 1987. The case of the bat-winged pterosaur. Typological taxonomy and the influence of pictorial representation on scientific presentation. Pp. 65–81in Czerkas, S. J. and Olson, E. C., eds. Dinosaurs past and present, vol. 2. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, and University of Washington Press, Seattle.Google Scholar
Padian, K., and Clemens, W. A. 1985. Terrestrial vertebrate diversity: episodes and insights. Pp. 41–96in Valentine, J. W., ed. Phanerozoic diversity patterns. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.Google Scholar
Paul, G. S. 1988. Predatory dinosaurs of the world. Simon and Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Pennycuick, C. J. 1982. The flight of petrels and albatrosses (Procellariformes), observed in South Georgia and its vicinity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B 300:75–106.Google Scholar
Pennycuick, C. J. 1983. Thermal soaring compared in three dissimilar tropical bird species, Fregata magnificens, Pelecanus occidentalis and Coragyps atratus. Journal of Experimental Biology 102:307–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennycuick, C. J. 1988. On the reconstruction of pterosaurs and their manner of flight, with notes on vortex wakes. Biological Reviews 63:299–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rayner, J.M.V. 1986. Scaling and size constraints on flying vertebrates. British Association for the Advancement of Science Paper D14.Google Scholar
Rayner, J.M.V. 1988. Form and function in avian flight. Current Ornithology 5:1–66.Google Scholar
Rayner, J.M.V. 1989. The mechanics and physiology of flight in fossil vertebrates. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences 80:311–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rayner, J.M.V. 1990. Vertebrate flight and the origins of flying vertebrates. Pp. 188–217in Allen, K. C. and Briggs, D.E.G., eds. Evolution and the fossil record. Belhaven, London.Google Scholar
Saunders, J. T., and Manton, M. S. 1979. A manual of practical vertebrate morphology. Clarendon, Oxford.Google Scholar
Saville, D.B.O. 1957. Adaptive evolution in the avian wing. Evolution 11:212–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schieffen, W. 1926. Flugsaurier und Segelflug. Natur and Museum 56:198–207.Google Scholar
Seeley, H. G. 1901. Dragons of the air. Metheun, London.Google Scholar
Shyestakova, G. S. 1953. Morfologichyeskiye osnovyi razlichii polyeta v gruppye chaikovykh ptits. [Morphological characteristics of flight organs in gulls.] Trudy Instituta Morfologii Zhivotnykh 9:59–75. [In Russian].Google Scholar
Soemmerring, S. T. von. 1812. Über einen Ornithocephalus oder über das unbekannten Thier der Vorwelt, dessen Fossiles Gerippe Colini im 5. Bande der Actorum Academiae Theodoro-Palatinae nebst einer Abbildung in natürlicher Grösse im Jahre 1784 beschrieb, und welches Gerippe sich gegenwärtig in der Naturalien-Sammlung der königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München befindet. Denkschriften der königliche bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematische-Physische Klasse 3:89–158.Google Scholar
Spillmann, F. 1925. Beiträge zur Biologie des Flügels und der Lebensweise der Pterosaurier. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 7:185–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, R. S. 1975. Dynamic analysis of Pteranodon ingens: a reptilian adaptation for flight. Journal of Paleontology 49:534–548.Google Scholar
Stromer von Reichenbach, E. 1913. Rekonstruktion des Flugsauriers Rhamphorhynchus gemmingi H. v. M. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie 49–68.Google Scholar
Van Dam, C. P. 1987. Efficiency characteristics of crescent-shaped wings and caudal fins. Nature (London) 325:435–437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaughan, T. A. 1966. Morphology and flight characteristics of mollossid bats. Journal of Mammalogy 47:249–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viohl, G. 1985. Geology of the Solnhofen lithographic limestone and the habit of Archaeopteryx. Pp. 31–44in Hecht, M. K., Ostrom, J. H., Viohl, G., and Wellnhofer, P., eds. The beginnings of birds. Freunde des JuraMuseums, Eichstätt, Germany.Google Scholar
Wellnhofer, P. 1970. Die Pterodactyloidea (Pterosauria) der Oberjura-Plattenkalke Süddeutschlands. Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse Abhandlungen 141.Google Scholar
Wellnhofer, P. 1975a. Die Rhamphorhynchoidea (Pterosauria) der Oberjura-Plattenkalke Süddeutschlands. II. Systematische beschreibung. Paläontographica A 148:132–186.Google Scholar
Wellnhofer, P. 1975b. Die Rhamphorhynchoidea (Pterosauria) der Oberjura-Plattenkalke Süddeutschlands. III. Palökologie und Stammesgeschichte. Paläontographica A 149:1–30.Google Scholar
Wellnhofer, P. 1980. Flugsaurierreste aus der Gosau-Kriede von Muthmanns (Niederösterreich)—ein beitrag zur Kiefermechanik der Pterosaurier. Mitteilungen des Bayerischen Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Historische Geologie 20:95–112.Google Scholar
Wellnhofer, P. 1982. Zur Biologie der Flugsaurier Natur und Museum 112:278–291.Google Scholar
Wellnhofer, P. 1985. Neue Pterosaurier aus der Santana-Formation (Apt) der Chapada do Araripe, Brasilien. Paläontographica A 187:105–182.Google Scholar
Wellnhofer, P. 1987. Die Flughaut von Pterodactylus (Reptilia, Pterosauria) am Beispiel des Wiener Exemplares von Pterodactylus kochi (Wagner). Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien 88A:149–162.Google Scholar
Wellnhofer, P. 1988. Terrestrial locomotion in pterosaurs. Historical Biology 1:3–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wellnhofer, P. 1991. Weitere Pterosaurierfunde aus der Santana-Formation (Apt) der Chapada do Araripe, Brasilien. Palaeontographica A 215:43–101.Google Scholar
Welty, J. C. 1962. The life of birds. Saunders, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Wild, R. 1978. Die Flugsaurier (Reptilia, Pterosauria) aus der Oberen Trias von Cene bei Bergamo, Italien. Bollettino della Societá Paleontologica Italiana 17:176–256.Google Scholar
Williston, S. W. 1902. Winged reptiles. Popular Science Monthly 60:314–322.Google Scholar
Withers, P. C., and Timko, P. L. 1977. The significance of ground effect to the aerodynamic cost of flight and energetics of the black skimmer (Rhynchops nigra) Journal of Experimental Biology 70:13–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yalden, D. W. 1984. What size was Archaeopteryx? Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 82:177–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, C. C. 1971. Flying reptiles of Sinkiang. China Reconstructs 19:28–29.Google Scholar
Zittel, K. A. von. 1882. Über Flugsaurier aus dem lithographischen Schiefer Bayerns. Palaontographica 29:47–80.Google Scholar