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Post by Supercommunist on Dec 20, 2021 2:09:36 GMT 5
So this clip is almost certainly sensational bs, but at 12:00 an apparent expert claims that a pterosaur could effectively punch something to death. I wouldn't be suprised if a pterosaur in a fit of desperation or during intraspecific used its wings as bludgeons like some birds do, but could it actually punch something? I can't help but think that their wings lack the range of movement need to punch something in a human-like fashion.
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Post by Infinity Blade on Dec 21, 2021 1:24:26 GMT 5
Mike Habib is a paleontologist who has done work on pterosaurs, so he's definitely credible. But this is an idea that I never heard of, let alone considered, before. And the context in which Habib makes this claim makes me very skeptical of it, even if he is an expert. I originally thought that the super elongated digit that supports the wing membrane would be unsuited for wing pummeling like a bird. But I guess if it kept the wing folded (so the long finger and membrane is kept out of the way) and struck only with the knuckle where the wing phalanges attached, it might work? At least some pterosaurs had well developed claws on their fingers too: Istiodactylus had well developed manus claws that are thought to have been useful for holding onto carcasses. Maybe they could be employed during a wing strike??? I...I don't know, man. That video is definitely sensationalistic, though (I encountered 12 mph T. rex again...). They used a ballistics gel torso to simulate the "punch". But to my knowledge, ballistics gel is only meant to simulate just that: ballistics. It's not meant to simulate a sword cut, spear thrust, or, in this case, a giant pterosaur "punch". You could literally poke your finger through ballistics gel ( link->). |
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Post by Supercommunist on May 20, 2022 23:28:54 GMT 5
Found a video of bats smacking each other with wings. So maybe the range of motion is at least plausible.
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Post by Supercommunist on Jun 23, 2022 6:01:21 GMT 5
This video is obviously fantasy but I was curious, could any winged animal swing there wings from side to side like the bat does at 0:11?
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Post by Infinity Blade on Jan 17, 2023 2:47:14 GMT 5
Found a video of bats smacking each other with wings. So maybe the range of motion is at least plausible. Found an additional account of a vampire bat literally throwing hands (wings?) with a cave rat. Account of a vampire bat and cave rat ( Neotoma sp.) engaging in a "fist fight", ending in multiple bats ganging up on the rat and killing it ( Carter et al., 2021).  All things considered, especially the fact that both bats and birds sometimes strike each other or other animals with their wings, I now think it's plausible that pterosaurs could have done the same thing too. To be fair, many birds specialize their wings for combat, but not all of them do and will still strike other animals with them (for example, a mute swan was recorded striking at a goose with its wing; Conover & Kania, 1994). Pterosaurs may have done the same, especially if they kept their wings folded and struck with the enlarged "knuckle" (i.e. the distal end of the metacarpal where the wing phalanges would be connected too) as originally described. It doesn't necessarily mean it would be lethal, or even damaging at all (although, I think a large pterosaur pummeling with its wing "knuckles" may be able to do some serious damage), just a means of fighting. EDIT: slight correction, it appears mute swans have bony spurs on their wings to hit with. However, I've also found evidence that trumpeter swans and Canada geese (which I don't believe have the bone spurs) pummel with their wings too. Lumsden (2018)Source-> |
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Post by Supercommunist on Jun 29, 2023 4:32:52 GMT 5
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