An analysis of the flying ability of the winged pterosaur, which was in the dinosaur era, revealed that the giant pterosaur had an extremely low ability to fly in the airflow, according to research groups such as Nagoya University. Announced that it may be an opportunity to review the ecology of pterosaurs.
Pterosaurs are winged "reptiles" that lived up to about 66 million years, the same as dinosaurs, and appeared from small to huge pterosaurs, mainly by gliding in the air currents. Is believed to be.
Research groups such as Yusuke Goto, a specially appointed assistant professor at Nagoya University, investigated the ability of pterosaurs to fly based on estimated wing size and weight.
As a result, it was estimated that the "Pteranodon" with a wingspan of about 5 meters glide on the updraft and flew freely.
On the other hand, the largest pterosaur in history, called the Quetzalcoatlus, with wings about 10 meters wide and weighing about 250 kilograms, is more than the updraft required for a bird that can hardly fly to glide. In addition, it was found that a faster airflow of 1.3 times or more was required, and the research group believes that the pterosaur had extremely low ability to fly when it became huge.
Assistant Professor Goto said, "There may be an image that a huge pterosaur was flying around in the sky, but in reality, it may have lived almost on the ground just by flying, so it was an opportunity to review the ecology of the pterosaur. It's an achievement. "