tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post8586115475473437402..comments2024-03-23T12:02:36.626-07:00Comments on Mark P. Witton's Blog: The lives and times of flying reptiles as told by the fossil record, part 1: azhdarchid pterosaursMark Wittonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02524696111911168322noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-9763616087294493952019-09-02T04:13:18.661-07:002019-09-02T04:13:18.661-07:00The image of an azdarchid tibia isn't showing....The image of an azdarchid tibia isn't showing. <br /><br />You can omit :large at the end of the link to get a valid link.Niels Peter Rasmussenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03469489354808769452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-63889976715120695122016-04-06T15:13:12.265-07:002016-04-06T15:13:12.265-07:00I definitely agree that corvids are a good analogu...I definitely agree that corvids are a good analogue, excluding the rare circumstances that the pterosaur can't actually get off the ground for some reason or another. That's what I had in mind with the above comment. Any pterosaur that picks fights with dinosaurs its own size is likely a very stupid one! <br /><br />One topic that stands out in my mind is where azhardchids (and other pterosaurs capable of dismembering or swallowing reasonably sized animals) fall in terms of scavenging hiearchy. A big azharchid could presumably bully small-mid sized dromaeosaurs away from their kills so long as it was something they could swallow. Of course, I doubt any pterosaurs were regular kleptoparasites. Devin Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01796548959751979007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-73087661651012679852016-04-01T03:32:44.811-07:002016-04-01T03:32:44.811-07:00I dare say what you would see with pterosaurs that...I dare say what you would see with pterosaurs that were not newly-hatched juveniles would be behaviour similar to modern corvids: before landing at any food source, the animals would have a look around the area for any possible danger, and would take reasonable care not to go into areas where they couldn't take off fairly quickly.<br /><br />This also ties into how most predators operate. Predators can only feed if they themselves are in tip-top condition. They cannot afford to be carrying injuries, as quite minor injuries can be eventually fatal. For this reason, predators never look for fair prey but tend to stick to preying on animals that are young, injured or rather old, or which are much smaller than themselves.<br /><br />A large azhdarchid therefore wouldn't land next to anything big enough to cause it trouble, wouldn't stand around on the ground if anything anywhere near its own size hove into view, and would likely give a very good account for its self if confronted by any mid-range predator. In such a situation, the pterosaur doesn't actually have to win the confrontation at all, all it has to manage is to make the other animal back off for long enough for the pterosaur to take flight. Once flying, that's the last any predator is going to see of that pterosaur.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02618328278732100203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-38360648956684783442016-03-30T11:50:56.554-07:002016-03-30T11:50:56.554-07:00Thanks Mike!Thanks Mike!Mark Wittonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02524696111911168322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-13420741220942382552016-03-29T18:55:34.024-07:002016-03-29T18:55:34.024-07:00Great article Mark! As a quick note, there is a ty...Great article Mark! As a quick note, there is a typo in one of the captions - the Dinosaur Park element pictured is the tibia.Michael Habibhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03641371798541261487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-28118798632431284842016-03-25T21:12:37.661-07:002016-03-25T21:12:37.661-07:00I suspect that pterosaurs (or at the very least az...I suspect that pterosaurs (or at the very least azhdarchids) were far less predator-prone as is often suggested. A contemporaneous tyrannosaurid might be far heavier than a Quetzalcoatlus sized azhdarchid, but the pterosaur has a distinct height advantage and presumably be quite an intimidating animal! I'm sure the beak could deliver some incredibly nasty jabs and the forelimbs could pack a similarly nasty punch in a pinch. There's a video on YouTube of a crane fending off a hawk with nothing more than some aggressive posturing and feinting pecks. Interactions between a theropod predator and an azhdarchid probably weren't much different.<br /><br />On that note, I wonder why the public had run away with the idea that dromaeosaurids must've hunted and killed big azhdarchids. I know that humerus is the catalyst, but I feel like the entire concept of it being the result of predation is downright goofy. Devin Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01796548959751979007noreply@blogger.com