Allometry in pterosaurs
Year: 1981
Type: article
Abstract: —The bivariate allometric equation has been used to study the relation between size and shape in 16 taxa of pterosaurs ranging in mass from about 4 g to an estimated 75 kg. Measurements of various features are related to the mass, which reflects the overall size of the animal. Shaft diameters of wing and leg bones show positive allometry with respect to mass, a partial solution to difficulties of support. Increase in length of wing bones shows an orderly gradient ranging from positive allometry in the middle members to isometry in proximal and distal members. Length of tail and size of metacarpals of the Rhamphorhyn-choidea and Pterodactyloidea exhibit contrasting patterns of allometry; tail length variation can be inter-preted in terms of different stability in flight. The allometry of wing surface area is positive relative to mass and that of wing loading is negative rela-tive to mass. Pterosaurs show lower wing loadings than most other flyers of the same mass, although well within the range for birds and bats. Large pterosaurs, then, flew slowly and with a high degree of maneuver-ability. The change of wing shape in progressively larger pterosaurs produces lower coefficients of induced drag. The mass of Quetzalcoatlus northropi, the giant pterosaur from Texas, is estimated at 75 kg. THE UNIQUE NATURE of the reptilian adapta tion to flight seen in pterosaurs has generated
Authors: James C. Brower, Julia Veinus
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2112405576