When Dinosaurs Disappointed but non-dinos didn't

["James R. Cunningham" <jrccea@bellsouth.net>]

Larry Dunn wrote:

> Was it just me or was WHEN DINOSAURS RULED in fact a
> piece of doggie doo?

I thought of it as dino poo, but yeah.However, it wasn't all bad.  I
really liked Dave Unwin's piece on the 40 foot pterosaur.  I was zonked
out on the sofa when the word 'pterodactyl' woke me up in time to see
the school kids inking in the full scale drawing, so I'm not sure how
much I missed.  I was interested to see that the animal had a much lower
wing loading than Quetzalcoatlus, and thus would have flown much
slower.  Based on the shape of it's snout, it was a 'tuck and pluck'
feeder rather than a 'plowing' skimmer like Q.  I speculate that that
may be a consequence of wing loading.  Any thoughts about it, anyone?
BTW, in the spatula snouted pterodactyls, the bottom and top blades
don't appear to have quite the same hydrodynamic function.  If the
animal has the bottom blade  (or both blades) in the water with the
blades forward of CV 1&2, any movement of the head cross-track will
automatically kick the head out of the water, apparently as a protection
device.  When the head is tucked under (upon catching a fish?) with the
'top' blade in the water and aft of CV 1&2, then the blade acts to keep
the beak in trail, aligned with the track.  Also, unless inhibited by a
simultaneous aftward wing sweep, the tuck will result in an automatic
pitch-up to clear the animal and the fish from the surface.  A lovely
animal, with it's short neck and head, much more flying wingish than Q
(particularly since I'm prone to hook the trailing edge of the wing into
the sacrum rather than the thigh).  If anyone has problems with a span
larger than, Qn, it should be noted that the elbow appears to be the
structurally critical joint, and the Qn humerus still has room left for
substantial additional morphing for larger mass and size.  I'd love to
see a picture of the humerus for the new animal (I missed its name).
You out there Dave?

All the best,
JimC