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Failed to connect to MySQL: (1203) User howardkn already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connectionsPath: news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!border-3.nntp.ord.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!Xl.tags.giganews.com!local-2.nntp.ord.giganews.com!news.giganews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 05 May 2025 00:52:09 +0000 Date: Sun, 4 May 2025 17:52:09 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird From: John Harshman Subject: Re: Secondarily flightless (or partially terrestrial) pterosaurs? Newsgroups: sci.bio.paleontology References: Content-Language: en-US In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: Lines: 36 X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com X-Trace: sv3-MWP9/5EjCVClphQ757voxB44L3M/kE6vV84EEdJU3it42mv2ZEnDoBggfWBSmFjmoX6atcvYUE6Y/jd!NdZoJiD1A7Rsky4xzBMKwjOfkqe0XtwIvWSA7OVasA6Qou4Z/Xp5fVsPl4A6/7q8FafnpengTLM= X-Complaints-To: abuse@giganews.com X-DMCA-Notifications: http://www.giganews.com/info/dmca.html X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.40 On 5/4/25 9:03 AM, erik simpson wrote: > Identifying pterosaur trackmakers provides critical insights into > mid-Mesozoic ground invasion > > Summary > Fossilized tracks have provided unique insights into the distribution, > behavior, and ecology of extinct taxa. Moreover, because they are > abundant and often have distinct distributions in time and space > compared with the body fossil record, they have considerable potential > for testing and extending macroevolutionary hypotheses. The key to > unlocking this vast potential lies in reliably linking tracks to their > producers, but this remains a persistent challenge. This limitation is > particularly evident among pterosaurs, the dominant flying vertebrates > of the Mesozoic. Despite an extensive record of pterosaur tracks > spanning more than 100 million years, the identities of trackmakers are > unclear in most cases, limiting their use for addressing key questions > about pterosaur ecology and evolution. In this study, we employ > quantitative analyses and diagnostic features of pedal anatomy to > directly link three distinct pterosaur track morphotypes to specific > pterodactyloid clades: ctenochasmatoids, dsungaripterids, and > neoazhdarchians. These results considerably extend the known > biogeographic distribution of these clades, supporting macroevolutionary > and ecological hypotheses derived from analyses of the body fossil > record. The absence of pterosaur tracks prior to the Middle Jurassic > supports evidence from hand and foot morphology indicating that early > pterosaurs were arboreal or scansorial. Track evidence demonstrates a > major radiation of derived pterodactyloid pterosaurs into terrestrial > niches beginning in the Middle Jurassic. Successive clades maintained a > strong presence across diverse terrestrial environments throughout the > latter half of the Mesozoic, highlighting the evolutionary versatility > and ecological significance of pterosaurs in terrestrial environments. > > https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00446-4 It's been well established that most azhdarchids were terrestrial predators, though I don't think any have been identified as flightless.