Pterosaur size

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description 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 2022Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..

File:Arambourgiania philadelphiae.png
Restoration of two Arambourgiania

Smallest pterosaurs

The smallest known pterosaur is Nemicolopterus with a wingspan of about Script error: No such module "convert"..[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 Template:Cvt and Template:Cvt 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

File:Quetzscale1.png
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 Script error: No such module "convert".[3][4][5]
  2. Quetzalcoatlus northropi Script error: No such module "convert".[3][5]
  3. Cryodrakon boreas Script error: No such module "convert".[5]
  4. Undescribed specimen from Mongolia Script error: No such module "convert".[6][7]
  5. Thanatosdrakon amaru Script error: No such module "convert".[8]
  6. Arambourgiania philadelphiae Script error: No such module "convert".[5]
  7. Tropeognathus mesembrinus Script error: No such module "convert".[9][10]
  8. Pteranodon longiceps Script error: No such module "convert".[11][12]
  9. Thapunngaka shawi Script error: No such module "convert".[13]
  10. Alanqa saharica Template:Cvt[14][5]
  11. Santanadactylus araripensis Script error: No such module "convert".[15]
  12. Cearadactylus atrox Script error: No such module "convert".[15]

The largest of non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs as well as the largest Jurassic pterosaur[16] was Dearc, with an estimated wingspan between Template:Cvt and Template:Cvt.[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 Template:Cvt,[19] Template:Cvt,[19] and Template:Cvt,[18] respectively. Middle Jurassic Angustinaripterus had a wingspan of Template:Cvt.[20]

Speculation about pterosaur size and flight

File:Tropeognathus mesembrinus size chart.png
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 Script error: No such module "convert".. The largest of these are estimated to have weighed Script error: No such module "convert".. For comparison, the wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of living birds at up to Script error: No such module "convert". but usually weighs less than Script error: No such module "convert".. 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

Script error: No such module "Portal".

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  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 Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ a b Wellnhofer, P. (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. pp. 124. Template:ISBN.
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Template:Cite Q
  18. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Wellnhofer, 1991
  21. ↑ Witton, Mark P. (2013). Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton University Press. Template:ISBN.
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Witton, Mark P. (2013). Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton University Press. Template:ISBN.

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

External links

  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Pterosaur_size&oldid=8244036"