Epic Flight Fail? Pterosaur Models Are Wrong, Says Study

An early 19th century drawing of a juvenile pterosaur (then called a pterodactylus) shows a bat-like sprawl that is anatomically impossible. (More on this little fella below.) In fact, the authors behind a new study claim most reconstructions of these extinct animals in flight are inaccurate. But are they the ones who've got it wrong? (Credit von Soemmering T. 1817, Über einen Ornithocephalus brevirostris der Vorwelt, Denkschriften der königlichen bayerischen Akademieder Wissenschaften, Math.-Phys. Klasse 6, 89–104.) Have paleontologists just been winging it? Up to 95 percent of the hip joint reconstructions of pterosaurs and their distant relatives, the most birdlike of dinosaurs, are anatomically impossible, according to new research that used a surprising source. But the study's conclusions, counters a pterosaur expert, should be grounded. Fleshing out an extinct animal from bones alone has always been paleontology's greatest challenge, and mistakes have been made. But a paper published today makes the bold claim that the field has gotten aspects of flight, specifically hip mobility, wrong for a long time. The authors say they've developed a new way to map how pterosaurs and some dinosaurs may have taken wing. It all starts with the common quail.