Re: poling dangers

[Michael Habib <mhabib5@jhmi.edu>]

> > or is it possible pterosaurs employed
> > other means of getting themselves airborn?
>
> I'd lay odds that different sized pterosaurs used a number of 
> different techniques to launch.  And that some species may have used 
> more than one technique (particularly the little guys).  I do prefer 
> the primarily front leg driven launch as being primary for the very 
> heavily loaded species.

I agree that launch techniques probably varied, though I would go out 
on a limb and suggest that all pterosaurs (even small ones) probably 
preferred forelimb-based launches when launching from the ground.  This 
does not apply to marine species launching from the water, or arboreal 
launches.  Generally speaking, though, I just don't see much of a 
mechanical advantage to using the hindlimbs, even in small pterosaurs, 
to get off the ground.  The "runway" style launch is probably specific 
to birds; a result of their bipedal morphology.  Overall, the 
differences in flight and launch are probably greater between birds and 
pterosaurs than most casual observers would expect.  I would 
hypothesize that this held true even at smaller body sizes.

Cheers,

--Mike Habib