Bipedal pterosaur in Korea?

<div style="background-color: none transparent;"><a href="http://www.rsspump.com/?web_widget/rss_ticker/news_widget" title="News Widget">News Widget</a></div>

Hello, we here at Speculative Evolution have noticed a recent increase in the number of guests visiting our community. While being a guest does allow you to browse the forum at a basic level, it does not give you access to everything. There are many things that guests cannot see, and therefore we urge you to join our us so that you may contribute to our community and the projects we are undertaking. If you would like to register, please click the link below. If you are already a member, please ignore this message and log in. Thank you for your cooperation.

Join our community!

Pages:
1
2

Bipedal pterosaur in Korea?
Topic Started: Aug 7 2012, 06:32 PM (644 Views)
Tartarus	Aug 7 2012, 06:32 PM Post #1
Adult Posts: 537 Group: Members Member #705 Joined: Feb 1, 2012 Gender: Male Nationality: Australian	A few days ago I learned of a surprising new discovery in Korea, of pterosaur fossil tracks showing only the hind legs and thus suggesting it was walking bipedally. At first I felt a bit skeptical as I'd long assumed it was physically impossible for a pterosaur to be a biped (and also because I've seen enough of David Peters' nonsense to be suspicious of bipedal pterosaur claims). I'm still not quite sure what to think. However, it seems this is a genuine discovery, and if one thinks about it is not actually that hard for the hind legs to evolve to be used for bipedal walking (especially when one considers the fact that pterosaur feet were partially plantigrade). Here's some more info on the discovery: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10420940.2011.625779#preview http://paleontoriano.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/worlds-first-bipedal-pterosaur-fossil.html Here's a dA pic of it: http://hodarinundu.deviantart.com/#/d59ulr8 There seems to be surprisingly little info on this discovery so far, so I'm not quite sure what to make of it. One question that comes to mind is: was bipedalism the normal stance for the pterosaur in question or did it only walk bipedally for short periods (with the fossil track being an example of this occasional break from a normally quadrupedal walking)? Anyway, what do others here think?



T.Neo	Aug 7 2012, 08:24 PM Post #2
Translunar injection: TLI Posts: 5,186 Group: Global Mods Member #179 Joined: Jun 7, 2009	Quote: Commonly referred to as pterodactyls, these flying dinosaurs once ruled the skies more than 160 million years ago. Flying dinosaurs? Ouch.



Russwallac	Aug 7 2012, 08:28 PM Post #3
"Ta-da!" Posts: 2,913 Group: Members Member #574 Joined: May 27, 2011 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Xenobiology Nationality: Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Primates, Hominidae, Homo sapiens sapiens Favorite Quote: One cannot define what life IS, but we sure as heck can define what it ISN'T.	Whelp, there goes THAT article's credibility...



Fakey	Aug 7 2012, 08:52 PM Post #4
An unreasonable man. Post Rank: What The? Posts: 5,429 Group: Members Member #149 Joined: Mar 12, 2009 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Murrca. Favorite Quote: “I have no fear of losing my life; if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it.” -Steve Irwin	DIXON WAS RIGHT.



Tartarus	Aug 7 2012, 09:40 PM Post #5
Adult Posts: 537 Group: Members Member #705 Joined: Feb 1, 2012 Gender: Male Nationality: Australian	T.Neo Aug 7 2012, 08:24 PM Flying dinosaurs? Ouch. I probably should have read that article more thoroughly. While it does a reasonably OK job of reporting on the news story, that embarrassingly inaccurate statement does taint it somewhat. The other article I linked to though (the ichnology journal) looks far more credible. For some reason, hardly anyone seems to be giving this whole discovery a lot of attention.



JohnFaa	Aug 8 2012, 02:03 AM Post #6
Adveho in mihi Lucifer Posts: 7,699 Group: Members Member #5 Joined: May 31, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Portugayse Favorite Quote: Blame is the playing of children and is given to many like a gift that cannot be returned. Acceptance is the tool of the mature that is rarely loaned out.	I think the forelimbs simply didn't get recorded, since most derived pterodactyloids had small fingers.



Fakey	Aug 8 2012, 02:11 AM Post #7
An unreasonable man. Post Rank: What The? Posts: 5,429 Group: Members Member #149 Joined: Mar 12, 2009 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Murrca. Favorite Quote: “I have no fear of losing my life; if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it.” -Steve Irwin	Of course, you could be denying the one thing you want most. Sapient pterosaurs.



Tartarus	Aug 8 2012, 02:21 AM Post #8
Adult Posts: 537 Group: Members Member #705 Joined: Feb 1, 2012 Gender: Male Nationality: Australian	JohnFaa Aug 8 2012, 02:03 AM I think the forelimbs simply didn't get recorded, since most derived pterodactyloids had small fingers. Yes, that's a possibility. As I've so far only managed to find a small amount of info on this discovery, I currently have no conclusive viewpoint on whether the fossil tracks truly belong to a bipedal pterosaur, or if they merely represent occasional bipedal walking, or if they are simply a case of the small forelimb fingers not making enough of an ichnological impression. Edited by Tartarus, Aug 8 2012, 02:22 AM.



FallingWhale	Aug 8 2012, 02:42 AM Post #9
Adult Posts: 791 Group: Members Member #457 Joined: Dec 24, 2010 Gender: Male Nationality: USA Favorite Quote: I have second thoughts. Maybe God is malicious.- Albert Einstein	It's just as likely that it landed in mud, felt awkward, and ran out with its wings still up.



Zoroaster	Aug 8 2012, 03:09 AM Post #10
Spry Fundiment Posts: 1,492 Group: Members Member #430 Joined: Nov 12, 2010 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Xenobiology Nationality: Antipodean Antideluvian Neanderthal Bolshevik - speccer formerly known as Magoo	It's really just Cephy - he's made pterosaur feet on the bottom of his flip-flops/jandals (we call them thongs in Australia, i.e. rubber sandals) - and planted footprints to get certain members of this forum all hot and bothered...



T.Neo	Aug 8 2012, 09:36 AM Post #11
Translunar injection: TLI Posts: 5,186 Group: Global Mods Member #179 Joined: Jun 7, 2009	Quote: I probably should have read that article more thoroughly. While it does a reasonably OK job of reporting on the news story, that embarrassingly inaccurate statement does taint it somewhat. Understood, Tartarus; I did not intend to undermine your credibility, merely point out an idiosynchratic feature of the article in question. It seems to be a fairly common mistake for those lacking a suitable amount of knowledge; nevertheless it does not degrade the main message of the article (as annoying as its presence may be to you or I). Quote: It's really just Cephy - he's made pterosaur feet on the bottom of his flip-flops/jandals (we call them thongs in Australia, i.e. rubber sandals) - and planted footprints to get certain members of this forum all hot and bothered... He must be pretty awesome if he can make footprints in solid rock.



Tartarus	Aug 8 2012, 07:41 PM Post #12
Adult Posts: 537 Group: Members Member #705 Joined: Feb 1, 2012 Gender: Male Nationality: Australian	T.Neo Aug 8 2012, 09:36 AM It seems to be a fairly common mistake for those lacking a suitable amount of knowledge; nevertheless it does not degrade the main message of the article (as annoying as its presence may be to you or I). Agreed. At least it was a fairly minor mistake. Pterosaurs are very closely related to dinosaurs so its understandable someone might mistake them for dinosaurs. It would have been worse if someone had claimed crocodiles are dinosaurs, and worse still if someone had claimed lizards are dinosaurs (there are actually some creationists who have claimed this, apparently blind to the obvious differences between lizards and dinosaurs). Btw, what are your own opinions on the Korean pterosaur tracks? Do you think they truly represent a bipedal or at least partially bipedal pterosaur? Do you agree with Faa's opinion that the forelimb fingers merely didn't leave ichnological impressions? Or are you, like me, still undecided on the issue?



Fakey	Aug 8 2012, 08:14 PM Post #13
An unreasonable man. Post Rank: What The? Posts: 5,429 Group: Members Member #149 Joined: Mar 12, 2009 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Murrca. Favorite Quote: “I have no fear of losing my life; if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it.” -Steve Irwin	Well considering crocodiles are reptiles, and they are pretty scary...



T.Neo	Aug 8 2012, 10:45 PM Post #14
Translunar injection: TLI Posts: 5,186 Group: Global Mods Member #179 Joined: Jun 7, 2009	To be honest I'm not really sure what opinion I have. I haven't followed the data very closely so I don't exactly know what it's about. It sounds interesting, though there may be several explanations that do not involve obligate biped pterosaurs (as JohnFaa has mentioned).



Fakey	Aug 8 2012, 11:05 PM Post #15
An unreasonable man. Post Rank: What The? Posts: 5,429 Group: Members Member #149 Joined: Mar 12, 2009 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Murrca. Favorite Quote: “I have no fear of losing my life; if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it.” -Steve Irwin	What if it's a previously unknown animal with feet similar to a pterosaur? DOHOHO.



1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)

<a href='http://delivery.zetabbs.com/adserver/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a731ce40&cb=401402140' target='_blank'><img src='http://delivery.zetabbs.com/adserver/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=29&cb=401402140&n=a731ce40&ct0=INSERT_CLICKURL_HERE' border='0' alt='' /></a>
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Science Central · Next Topic »

Pages:
1
2