How the largest animals that could ever fly supported giraffelike necks
An undated image from video provided by Cariad Williams et al. from a CT scan of the cross-section of a fossilized pterosaur vertebra. Scans of fossilized remains of these long-necked flying giants, the size of giraffes, revealed a surprise in their anatomy. Cariad Williams et al. via The New York Times.
by Becky Ferreira
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- If you were to gaze skyward in the late Cretaceous Period, you might catch a glimpse of surreal flying giants with wingspans that rival small planes. This supersized group of pterosaurs, known as azhdarchids, included species that measured 33 feet between wingtips, making them the largest animals that ever took to the air.
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How the Largest Animals That Could Ever Fly Supported Giraffe-Like Necks
These pterosaurs had wingspans as long as 33 feet, and scans of fossilized remains reveal a surprise in their anatomy.
Video
An end-to-end CT scan of a fossilized pterosaur vertebra reveals the spoke-like structures inside. Video by Williams et al.Credit
By Becky Ferreira
April 14, 2021Updated 12:33 p.m. ET
If you were to gaze skyward in the late Cretaceous, you might catch a glimpse of surreal flying giants with wingspans that rival small planes. This supersized group of pterosaurs, known as azhdarchids, included species that measured 33 feet between wingtips, which made them the largest animals that ever took to the air.
Upper Valley home sales by total number and price skyrocketed in 2020
San Jose Mercury News illustration
Modified: 2/1/2021 6:30:13 PM
Upper Valley real estate agent Amy Redpath in October had a home listed for sale in Hartland, and the sellers received eight offers.
“I thought that was magic,” Redpath said about the response.
But that was nothing compared to Redpath’s recent listing in Hartland, a four-bedroom, 2½ bath, 2,656-square-foot 1850 cape on a 2.8-acre lot that was listed for $449,000. Within minutes of the home going on the market earlier this month, Redpath’s inbox began filling up with eager buyers.
Over the next couple weeks, 24 parties viewed the property half of them via Facetime and Zoom because of the pandemic and the sellers received 15 offers.
Bizarre dinosaur Spinosaurus behaved like a giant, flightless stork, study says
CNN
27th January, 2021 11:37:17
Paleontologists have long been puzzled about how the Spinosaurus a giant dinosaur and aquatic predator would have behaved.
Now, they believe it would have been less like an otter, and more like a huge, flightless stork or heron.
Rather than hunting fish in the water, the massive dinosaur would have likely caught prey out of the water from a position on the shoreline, researchers from Queen Mary University of London and the University of Maryland found in a study published Tuesday.
Spinosaurs were a group of large-bodied theropods that were bigger than both Tyrannosaurus rex and Giganotosaurus, growing to around 15 meters (49.2 feet) in length. These dinos lived during the Cretaceous period between 145.5 and 65.5 million years ago.