RE: Pterosaur Takeoffs (Under-rated Bats)

[Richard W Travsky <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>]

On Tue, 12 Oct 1999 bh480@scn.org wrote:
> Speculation on pterosaur take-offs in the literature seems 
> to be overlooking some recent research on species of bats 
> that move about on the ground and can get into the air 
> directly from a flat surface without climbing to some 
> higher perch. Vampire bats can do this by leaping into the 
> air. I have not read the entire paper, but a detailed 
> abstract is viewable at 
> http://www.biologist.com/JEB/200/23/jeb1149.html. Also, 

This link does not appear to work, you get a 404 error.

> the false vampire bat (Vampyrum spectrum) of Central and 
> South America hunts prey (rodents, insects) on the ground 
> and can get airborne with a hop even though it is the 
> largest bat in the New World, with a wingspan of over 70 
> cm. I have seen footage of this feat on the Discovery 
> Channel but couldn't track down a reference in the 
> literature or find a website that goes into any detail.  

I have also seen this (or similar) footage and my first 
thought was pterosaurs.

> [...]