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Jagielska N, Kaye TG, Habib MB, Hirasawa T, Pittman M. New soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated, dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary origins. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.01.601487. [PMID: 39005281 PMCID: PMC11244851 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.01.601487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve powered flight. Early pterosaurs had long stiff tails with a mobile base that could shift their center of mass, potentially benefiting flight control. These tails ended in a tall, thin soft tissue vane that would compromise aerodynamic control and efficiency if it fluttered during flight like a flag in the wind. Maintaining stiffness in the vane would have been crucial in early pterosaur flight, but how this was achieved has been unclear, especially since vanes were lost in later pterosaurs and are absent in birds and bats. Here we use Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence imaging to reveal a cross-linking lattice within the tail vanes of early pterosaurs. The lattice supported a sophisticated dynamic tensioning system used to maintain vane stiffness, allowing the whole tail to augment flight control and the vane to function as a display structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Jagielska
- School of GeoSciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas G. Kaye
- Foundation for Scientific Advancement, Sierra Vista, Arizona, United States
| | - Michael B. Habib
- Department of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States
| | - Tatsuya Hirasawa
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Michael Pittman
- School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Yang Z, Jiang B, Benton MJ, Xu X, McNamara ME, Hone DWE. Allometric wing growth links parental care to pterosaur giantism. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231102. [PMID: 37464754 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Pterosaurs evolved a broad range of body sizes, from small-bodied early forms with wingspans of mostly 1-2 m to the last-surviving giants with sizes of small airplanes. Since all pterosaurs began life as small hatchlings, giant forms must have attained large adult sizes through new growth strategies, which remain largely unknown. Here we assess wing ontogeny and performance in the giant Pteranodon and the smaller-bodied anurognathids Rhamphorhynchus, Pterodactylus and Sinopterus. We show that most smaller-bodied pterosaurs shared negative allometry or isometry in the proximal elements of the fore- and hindlimbs, which were critical elements for powering both flight and terrestrial locomotion, whereas these show positive allometry in Pteranodon. Such divergent growth allometry typically signals different strategies in the precocial-altricial spectrum, suggesting more altricial development in Pteranodon. Using a biophysical model of powered and gliding flight, we test and reject the hypothesis that an aerodynamically superior wing planform could have enabled Pteranodon to attain its larger body size. We therefore propose that a shift from a plesiomorphic precocial state towards a derived state of enhanced parental care may have relaxed the constraints of small body sizes and allowed the evolution of derived flight anatomies critical for the flying giants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zixiao Yang
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork T23 TK30, Ireland
- Environmental Research Institute, Ellen Hutchins Building, Lee Road, Cork T23 XE10, Ireland
| | - Baoyu Jiang
- Center for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environments, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of China
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Xing Xu
- Center for Vertebrate Evolutionary Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650031, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China
| | - Maria E McNamara
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork T23 TK30, Ireland
- Environmental Research Institute, Ellen Hutchins Building, Lee Road, Cork T23 XE10, Ireland
| | - David W E Hone
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
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Wu Q, Chen H, Li Z, Jiang S, Wang X, Zhou Z. The morphology and histology of the pectoral girdle of Hamipterus (Pterosauria), from the Early Cretaceous of Northwest China. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2023. [PMID: 36787121 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023]
Abstract
As one of the mysteries volant vertebrates, pterosaurs were completely extinct in the K-Pg extinction event, which hampered our understanding of their flight. Recent studies on pterosaur flight usually use birds as analogies, since their shoulder girdle share many features. However, it was also proposed that these two groups may differ in some critical flight mechanisms, such as the primary muscles for the upstroke of the wings. Here, we describe and characterize the detail features of the pectoral girdle morphology and histology in Hamipterus from the Early Cretaceous of Northwest China for the first time. Our research reveals that the scapula and coracoid of Hamipterus form a synostosis joint, representing a distinct pectoral girdle adaption during pterosaur flight evolution, different from that of birds. The residual of the articular cartilage of the glenoid fossa supports the potential for cartilage tissue preservation in this location. The morphology of the acrocoracoid process of Hamipterus indicates it may work as a pulley for M. supracoracoideus as the main power of flight upstroke resembles that of birds. But the saddle type of the shoulder joint of the pterosaur may limit the rotation of the humerus head, suggesting a particular mechanism to control the angle of attack unlike birds. The presence of both the similarity and differences between the flight apparatus of pterosaurs and birds are highlighted in our research, which may be related to the flight mechanism and forelimb functional adaption. The distinctive feature of the flight apparatus of pterosaur should be treated with caution in future research, to better understand the life of this unique extinct volant vertebrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Wu
- University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - He Chen
- School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhiheng Li
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Shunxing Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaolin Wang
- University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Zhonghe Zhou
- University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
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Quadrupedal water launch capability demonstrated in small Late Jurassic pterosaurs. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6540. [PMID: 35449226 PMCID: PMC9023563 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10507-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Pterosaurs thrived in and around water for 160 + million years but their take-off from water is poorly understood. A purportedly low floating position and forward centre of gravity barred pterosaurs from a bird-like bipedal running launch. Quadrupedal water launch similar to extant water-feeding birds and bats has been proposed for the largest pterosaurs, such as Anhanguera and Quetzalcoatlus. However, quadrupedal water launch has never been demonstrated in smaller pterosaurs, including those living around the Tethys Sea in the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Lagoon. Using Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence, we singled out aurorazhdarchid specimen MB.R.3531 that alone preserved specific soft tissues among more than a dozen well-preserved Solnhofen pterosaur specimens. These soft tissues pertain to primary propulsive contact surfaces needed for quadrupedal water launch (pedal webbing and soft tissues from an articulated forelimb) that permit robust calculations of its dynamic feasibility without the need to make assumptions about contact areas. A first-principles-based dynamics model of MB.R.3531 reveals that quadrupedal water launch was theoretically feasible and that webbed feet significantly impacted launch performance. Three key factors limiting water launch performance in all pterosaurs are identified, providing a foundation for understanding water launch evolution: available propulsive contact area, forelimb extension range and forelimb extension power about the shoulder.
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How ancient reptiles were streamlined for flight. Nature 2021. [DOI: 10.1038/d41586-021-02822-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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