Think pterosaurs were fragile kite-like critters who could barely handle a struggling fish?
Think again!
http://www.livescience.com/animals/080527-giant-reptile.html?ybf1=1 (http://www.livescience.com/animals/080527-giant-reptile.html?ybf1=1)
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t214/morrisawilliams/080527-flying-reptiles-02.jpg)
"If you go wading out into this soft mud, and you weigh a quarter of a ton, and you've got these dinky little feet, you're going to just sink in."
Doubly cool!
Quote from: indianasmith on May 30, 2008, 08:23:15 PM
Doubly cool!
I thought you'd get a kick out of this. It's hard to imagine how a flying animal this big could find enough to eat . . . but here they are.
I know the sauropod being caught is a baby . . . but just imagine if it were an adult!
Pterosaurs a thousand feet tall!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5jfCb6-2RA
I have an old book somewhere that theorized (with cool illustrations, of course) how dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and other prehistoric critters would have eventually evolved if they had not become extinct. I remember one idea was that some pterosaurs would eventually evolve into giant flighless plains-dwelling herbivores that resembled giraffes. Imagine super giant carnivorous giraffes with hairy feathers!
You know the real problem with being attacked by a giant bird (poetic license, grant me thy favor) that I can think of? Being stomped on. Have you ever seen a carnivorous bird kill its prey? They have this ugly tendency to pin it down and then stomp on it with their feet, which usually have sharp ends. I do not want a 500lb pterosaur stomping on me until I'm dead.
Quote from: Andrew on May 31, 2008, 10:57:56 AM
You know the real problem with being attacked by a giant bird (poetic license, grant me thy favor) that I can think of? Being stomped on. Have you ever seen a carnivorous bird kill its prey? They have this ugly tendency to pin it down and then stomp on it with their feet, which usually have sharp ends. I do not want a 500lb pterosaur stomping on me until I'm dead.
That's pretty much what happens to a bug when you crush it. I always have a slight fear that they might still be alive after that, seriously that would suck.