{"id":439,"date":"2021-12-08T17:17:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T16:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=106240"},"modified":"2021-12-08T17:33:10","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T16:33:10","slug":"palaeontologists-figure-out-how-a-pterosaur-the-size-of-a-double-decker-bus-was-able-to-fly","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/palaeontologists-figure-out-how-a-pterosaur-the-size-of-a-double-decker-bus-was-able-to-fly\/","title":{"rendered":"Palaeontologists figure out how a pterosaur the size of a double-decker bus was able to fly"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Jason Goodyer\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 08 December 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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With a wingspan the length of a London Routemaster bus, the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus<\/em> is the largest known animal to ever take to the sky. But as there are only a limited numbers of fossilised bones to go on, figuring out exactly how this prehistoric behemoth got airborne has mostly been limited to speculation.<\/p>\n

Now, a team of researchers at the University of Texas at Austin think they have the answer: Quetzalcoatlus<\/em>\u00a0likely leapt 3 metres into the air<\/a> before flapping its gigantic wings and lifting off.<\/p>\n

The \u201cTexas Pterosaur\u2019, as it is sometimes known, was first discovered in Big Bend National Park in 1971. However, apart from some initial descriptions of the bones, almost no scientific studies have been carried out on the enigmatic animal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time that we have had any kind of comprehensive study,\u201d said Matthew Brown<\/a>, director of The University of Texas at Austin\u2019s Vertebrate Palaeontology Collections at the Jackson School of Geosciences. \u201cEven though Quetzalcoatlus<\/em> has been known for 50 years, it has been poorly known.\u201d<\/p>\n