Blogs / 80beats

Engineers have designed a robotic spy plane that is modeled on the pterodactyls that swooped through the sky between 228 million to 65 million years ago, while dinosaurs tromped over the land below. Perhaps unsurprisingly, researchers say that their prototype is the first aircraft inspired by a pterosaur (the broader scientific name for all winged lizards).

Paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee partnered with engineer Rick Lind to design their “Pterodrone;” the two men say the work was driven in part by their admiration for the vesatility of pterosaurs. With lightweight bones and an intricate system of collagen fibers that strengthened their wings, [pterosaurs] ranged from the size of a sparrow to the size of a Cessna plane. “These animals take the best parts of bats and birds. They had the maneuverability of a bat but could glide like an albatross. Nothing alive today compares to the performance and agility of these animals” Chatterjee said [AP].

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In the primeval forests of Europe, scaly lizards leaped from the treetops and glided safely to the ground, according to a new study. Paleontologists investigated the fossilized remains of two kinds of kuehneosaurs, which were first found in the 1950s in an ancient cave system near Bristol [The Press Association]. They say that the prehistoric reptiles used extraordinary extensions of their ribs to form large gliding surfaces on the side of the body [LiveScience], which were surprisingly effective for the larger of the two species.

Researcher Koen Stein says: “We didn’t think kuehneosaurs would have been very efficient in the air, but all the work up to now had been speculation, so we decided to build models and test them in the wind tunnel in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Bristol. Surprisingly, we found that Kuehneosuchus was aerodynamically very stable” [Telegraph]. Researchers said the Kuehneosuchus could have glided about 30 feet before touching down on the ground, while the Kuehneosaurus, with stubbier “wings,” was more of a parachutist.

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The giant azhdarchid pterosaurs have fascinated paleontologists since their fossils were first discovered in the 1970s. The largest flying animals ever to grace the planet seemed ripped from science fiction: They were taller than giraffes and had wingspans of over 30 feet.

Researchers first believed that these pterosaurs, or “winged lizards,” were scavengers that picked apart carcasses. More recently, paleontologists marveled at the idea of the lizards swooping over coastal waters to hunt like enormous seabirds. Now, after a comprehensive study of the azhdarchids’ footprints and fossils, several researchers have announced their theory that the largest pterosaurs stalked their prey on land like storks, and fed on baby dinosaurs.

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