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Tell me morÄ™: pterosaur breathing apparatus

Why did some pterosaurs have a head crest?

a) It counterbalanced the long beak.

b) It carried stresses along the skuli if the pterosaur bit something hard.

c) It acted as a rudder.

d) It acted as a sail, so the pterosaur could be pushed along by the wind.

e) It helped hołd up the head.

i

Open ocean

For a long time, experts thought that all pterosaurs lived by the sea. Pteranodon probably fed out at sea like a modern albatross.

f) It kept the pterosaur cool, by allowing body heat to escape.

g) It absorbed heat from the Sun, keeping the pterosaur warm.

h) It was for display and was a sign of health and sexual maturity.

(answers at bottom of page)

large breastbone that extended from the front of the rib cage to the belly.

â–     Smali, serrated bones called sternal ribs connected the breastbone with the ribs.

â–     When the pterosaur breathed in, muscles pulled the sternal ribs (and therefore the breastbone) down.

â–     As the breastbone moved down, all the air sacs inside the body filled with air.

â–     When the rib muscles relaxed, the breastbone moved back up.

â–     As the breastbone moved up, air was pushed out of all the air sacs, and out of the animaFs throat.

Pterosaur teeth

/Dimorphodon had a deep ,^^-snout and conical teeth for grabbing and subduing smali prey.

Dsungaripterus had big, blunt teeth for crushing shellfish.

Pteranodon had a long, gently upcurved, toothless beak.

/Ctenochasma had hundreds ^r-of long, fine teeth for filtering out tiny prey from the water.

f Ouetzalcoatlus had a toothless, ^^r-storklike beak, useful for seizing smali animals and fruit.

/Ornithocheirus had clusters ^r-of fangs for snatching fish and sguid from the waves.

4

4

Woodlands

Anurognathus and some of its relatives lived in woodland where they hunted insects. They may have been nocturnal, like bats.

How to: fly like a pterosaur

Fern meadows

Azhdarchids, such as Ouetzalcoatlus, pursued prey far inland. Their many habitats included fern meadows and woodlands.

iThrust your wings down and back, in order to power yourself forward. This is your downstroke.

02,

Now contract your muscles to raise your wings, which are slightly folded. This is your midway position.

03,

Once your wings are at their highest point (the upstroke), get ready for the next downstroke!

Freshwater lakes

Many Cretaceous pterosaurs fished in freshwater lakes. They include Dsungaripterus and Ctenochasma.

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