Pterosaurs Flying Contemporaries of the Dinosaurs PDF
Preview Pterosaurs Flying Contemporaries of the Dinosaurs
André J. Veldmeijer Mark Witton & Ilja Nieuwland P T E R O S A U R S S i d e s t FLYING CONTEMPORARIES OF THE DINOSAURS o n e P T E R O S A U R S Sidestone Press P T E R O S A U R S FLYING CONTEMPORARIES OF THE DINOSAURS André J. Veldmeijer Mark Witton & Ilja Nieuwland © 2012 A.J. Veldmeijer / M. Witton / I. Nieuwland Published by Sidestone Press, Leiden www.sidestone.com Sidestone registration number: SSP67280005 ISBN 978-90-8890-093-8 Cover design: K. Wentink, Sidestone Press Lay-out: P.C. van Woerdekom, Sidestone Press / A.J. Veldmeijer Cover illustration: Mark Witton (UK), Corey Ford (USA), en Yuri Arcurs (Denmark) Contents PREFACE 9 Acknowledgement 9 INTRODUCTION 11 What are fossils? 13 What is palaeontology? 16 A short history of our relationship with an extraordinary animal 27 PTEROSAURS: A SHORT INTRODUCTION 37 When did pterosaurs live? 37 Triassic 37 Jurassic 38 Cretaceous 39 EXTINCTION 40 Where did pterosaurs live? 40 The Solnhofen Limestones: the rocks that gave us pterosaurs 46 Where Pterandon roams: the Niobrara Formation 49 Giving pterosaurs more depth: the Araripe Group lagerstätte 51 The ancient lake deposits of Liaoning Province 54 Evolution 55 THE SKELETON 59 The skull 60 The post-cranial skeleton 69 Spine 69 Shoulder girdle 70 Pelvis 74 Hind legs 75 Wing 76 SOFT PARTS 85 Muscles 85 Brains 85 LOCOMOTION 89 Terrestrial 89 Flying 89 DIVERSITY 90 LIFESTYLE 91 Reproduction 91 Food 91 …and becoming food 98 Sick and cured 102 THREE DIMENSIONAL MODELS 107 Introduction 107 Erwin Meerman 107 The English models 110 The concept 111 Realising the concept 112 Postures 113 Turning engineers into palaeo-artists 116 Flesh on bone 117 Wings 118 Detailing 119 Colour 120 ‘Dinner’ and other embellishments 122 The heads 122 Moving it all about 123 The finished product 124 LIST OF FIGURES 127 NAMES OF THE ANIMALS 131 FURTHER READING 133 MARK EXPLAINS Dimorphodon 19 Dsungaripterus 24 Quetzalcoatlus 41 Pterodaustro 66 Nyctosaurus 72 Anhanguera 81 Pteranodon 92 Sinopterus 104 Tapejara 114 8
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