Re: questions for Witton & Naish: Azhdarchid Pterosaur Functional Morphology

[MICHAEL HABIB <habib@jhmi.edu>]

> The evidence for broad wing membranes is discussed in the 
> paper, and I'm not going to go through it all again. I know some folk 
> have their reasons for not buying broad chords, but I (along with 
> Darren and, I think, a healthy chunk of the pterosaur community) 
> reckon it's the way the evidence points.

I actually got the impression, from chatting with various workers (especially 
at the Munich meeting), that the general sentiment tended to be broad 
attachments, but not necessarily broad chords.  Personally, I think the 
evidence points pretty heavily towards rather narrow outboard chords in many 
(if not most) groups, and that there is also fair evidence for hindlimb 
attachments in many (if not most) clades (based especially on the specimens I 
had a chance to see in Germany).  The punchline really is that the two are not 
the same thing (Listers: note that Mark is quite familiar with all of this, I'm 
just using his comments as a springboard since others may be less familiar).  
It is also worth noting that "broad" is a subjective term - Mark's planform 
reconstruction, while broader than the one I favor, is still quite reasonable.  
This contrasts to some of the planforms that have been published in the past 
with almost impossibly broad wings (which, combined with underestimated 
weights, generated wing loadings that were truly silly, not to mention 
aerodynamically problematic). 

Mark: are you using "broad chord" to indicate a broad wing overall (ie. average 
chord) or a broad inboard wing only?


> Heck, even I've managed to find it, and I've been called 
> stupid in several comment sections on newspaper websites in the last 
> few days.

Like other have said, I'd just laugh that one off.  If they can't understand 
the basics of the argument, then I think we know where the actual IQ problems 
are.

I am curious, though, to know which newspaper/websites have picked up the 
story.  I've seen several already, do you have a list?  I'd be curious to 
compare (in part to see how different popular sources portray pterosaur 
research).

Cheers,

--Mike H.