Why Did Birds Survive And Not Pterosaurs ?
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Pterosaurs lived as far back as 220 million years ago and died out during the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction of 65 million years ago. But birds survived. So, why did birds survive and not Pterosaurs? Birds are contemptuously believed to have miniscule brains, but in fact, the opposite is true.
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It was precisely this superior brain power that ensured their survival when 85 percent of animals that inhabited the planet were annihilated. Modern CT scans reveal that the brain of the bird was so well developed and advanced that it was able to reason out solutions toward adaptation to a changing environment. It is precisely this reason why birds survived and not pterosaurs. Scientists believe that a key feature of survival was the development of a structure called ‘wulst’ in the brain that is linked to visual perception. Pterosaurs and earlier forms of birds lacked this structure. In the process of evolution, wulst is much larger especially in owls and similar species which are heavily reliant on eyesight.More...
What Did Pterosaurs Eat ?
In prehistoric times, what the dinosaur was to land, the Pterosaur was to the skies. They were called ‘winged lizards’ and dominated their natural aerial environment for 166 million years. Paleontologists believe that Pterosaurs had evolved from even older gliding lizards. These flying animals had skin flaps attached to their sides which would keep them afloat in a glide for distances up to 13 meters.
Pterosaurs ranged in size from that of a small bird to the largest, the size of an adult human male. The largest of them -- Quetzalcoatlus had a wing span of around 12 meters, the same span, wing-tip to wing-tip of a small aircraft. More...
Pterosaur Wing Bones Diagram
Pterosaurs, better known as Pterodactyls or ‘wing fingers,’ were flying reptiles that lived between 228 and 65 million years ago. At least 60 varieties of pterosaurs have so far been found. They range from some as tiny as sparrows to others with a wingspan as large as a medium-sized aircraft, or around 40 feet. Pterosaurs had wings similar to bats comprising of thin membranes of skin. The wings extended from the sides of the body.
Pterosaurs and birds are both vertebrates descended distantly from reptilian ancestors. But pterosaurs were not birds. Scientists have concluded, after extensive study, that pterosaurs flew by actively flapping their wings. The wings ran alongside the body and tapered to a point where they attached themselves to an extraordinarily long fourth finger. In essence, the wing was a membrane supported by a bony skeletal frame of the hand, forearm and arm. The wings were never intended for gliding.More...
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