Mystery of the pterosaurs and their ridiculously long necks is finally solved
Unless they’re keepKng Kt Xery well hKdden gKraffes aren’t knQwn fQr theKr ƃyKng prQwess *QweXer
extinct azhdarchid pterosaurs, gigantic reptiles with long necks and even larger heads, were able to take to the air. Yet exactly how the animals
managed tQ ƃy has been a lQng standKng mystery
Despite these pterosaurs having a wingspan of up to 12 metres, palaeobiologists have wondered how this close cousin of the dinosaurs could be
lKghtweKght enQugh tQ ƃy whKle alsQ haXKng bQnes
strong enough to support their 2.5m-long necks.
A new study, which was published in the journal iScience may haXe Ƃnally sQlXed the
puzzle. While researchers previously presumed
the bQnes Kn a pterQsaur’s neck had a sKmple tube
within-a-tube structure, CT scans of pterosaur bones revealed their vertebrae had a unique internal construction mirroring the spokes of a bicycle wheel.
Scans showed the bones contain a number of thin rod-like tissues (known as trabeculae) that are arranged in the shape of a corkscrew – and even cross over each other. This strong and lightweight network of trabeculae explains how the pterosaurs
cQuld ƃy and mQXe theKr massKXe m lQng heads
without snapping their necks (which are described
as “rKdKculQusly lQng” by study Ƃrst authQr %arKad
Williams, PhD student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
In fact, further analysis revealed that as few as 50 spoke-like trabeculae could increase the amount of weight their necks could carry without buckling by 90 per cent.
“What was utterly remarkable was that the internal structure was perfectly preserved,” said study co-author Prof David Martill. “As soon as we saw the intricate pattern of radial trabeculae, we realised there was something special going on. As we looked closer, we could see that they were arranged in a helix travelling up and down the vertebral tube and crossing each other.”
While existing at the same time, pterosaurs
are nQt classKƂed as dKnQsaurs as they eXQlXed
on a separate branch of the reptile family tree.
The pterQsaurs Ƃrst appeared durKng the TrKassKc
Period, 215 million years ago, and thrived for an estimated 150 million years before going extinct alongside the majority of dinosaurs.