The Incredible Amongst the Amazing. W.P.A. Post #1:

 I have to admit that I am very excited to present this article. I hope that this won't be too in depth but still something to get excited over. I want to start my series with pterosaurs which I believe is appropriate enough for they represent many reason why paleontology is awesome. In short, pterosaurs are AWESOME!

Dimorphodon

Everything that you have ever been told about pterosaurs, beyond the fact that they are flying reptiles, is frankly not true. They have for the last 100 years been portrayed as weak, stick-limbed beast. They seem to shiver in their bare skin. Pterosaurs have been said to be so helpless that they would have been grounded during an even a small drizzle while virtually all pterosaurs have been said to favor coastal habitats. That strikes me as odd because the sea-shore is the last ecosystem that a weak, powerless flier should spend their lives. Pterosaurs have also been portrayed as ultralight fliers who somehow manage the physically taxing maneuver of skim-feeding like a skimmer bird. Some have said that they would be completely helpless on land while being completely unable to take off in flight unless they hurled themselves over a cliff or required different atmospheric conditions. Little wonder they went extincted.
Within the last 20 years it has become evident that pterosaur aren't as helpless as they were first thought to be. In fact, they were a very extraordinary group of animals. There is a tremendous array of variety within pterosauria. Due to advances in technology, new discoveries, and incremental research in the last 200 years, we have learned more about pterosaurs within 30 years than the last 200 years.

Pycnofiber surrounding the body of a pterosaur

Pterosaur were a group of reptiles that are volant, meaning they can fly, and were mainly predacious. They inhabited the entire earth and some species could probably even fly around the earth in short order, no geographical boundaries restricting. With the use of Ultra-violet light, it seems that all pterosaur were at least partially covered by a hair like integument over at least some of their bodies dubbed "pycnofibers" which is strong evidence that pterosaurs were active, endotherms or "warm-blooded" animals instead of lazy, reptilian ectotherms or "cold-blooded." Many pterosaur, and perhaps even all pterosaurs, may have adorned a head crest, many of them being composed of soft tissue which rarely becomes preserved as fossils. One interesting specimen even reveals banded coloration on its soft-tissue crest under UV lighting! Also, many species were probably swimmers. I wish that we could have seen these animals in life for there are many aspects of their biology and ecology that would have undoubtedly have been spectacular but is not recorded for us in the fossil record.

Pterodaustro

Nyctosaurus gracilis

Many pterosaurs have been discovered and some have been quite mind-boggling. They range from insect nabbing anurognathids that are one of my personal favorite pterosaurs. They have many details of their anatomy that makes them quite unique. We will be looking at them in more detail later. There also are the amazing azhdarchids, some of which were the size of giraffes. Azhdarchids are also some of my favorite pterosaurs. To the left you have undoubtedly noticed the pterodaustro. These animals fed by straining water through their highly compact teeth on their lower jaw and eating the small animals that were left by the water. Another unique eye-catcher is the antler crested nyctosaurs. These animals probably did not frequent land but glided over the oceans almost non-stop. They even lacked fingers on their wings except for their wing finger ( what supported the pterosaur wing membrane was actually an elongated finger).  Nyctosaurs wings were very large which would have made walking on the ground somewhat difficult. Their are also very many other varieties of pterosaurs such as tapejarids which sported some extreme head-crests, ctenochasmatoids which is the group that includes pterodaustro, pterodactylus and many other bizarre animals., orinthocheirids, ramphorhynchids and others. I hope to run through the many interesting and fascinating pterosaurs that have been found in future posts.

Anuragnathus ammoni munching on a cockroach

One family of pterosasurs excited about are the anurognathids. According to Dr. Dave Hone 

"Of course every clade no matter how big or small has some unusual trait that will make it interesting to an expert in the field, if only as a quirk – pteranodontids have a great fossil record, azhdarchids are huge, dimorphodontids have their place in history, dsungaripterids have their great skulls and the anurognathids? Well, they have everything."

Agreed!

 Oh man, where to start!? Anurognathids are a group of insectivorous, nocturnal animals that in some ways superficially resemble bats. These beasts were first discovered in 1923 and have been, like many pterosaurs, enigmatic for many years until recently. One of the many exciting things about paleontology today is that questions are being answered. The original specimen found was not in great condition, so much so it was nick-named "the road-kill specimen." There was much confusion regarding the exact nature and anatomy of this animal and it didn't help that pterosaurology drifted into the dark-ages soon after its discovery. With recent finds, however, including specimens from Solnhofen limestone in Germany and the Lioaning province in China, past misconceptions have been corrected.

Many good specimens have been discovered where the pycnofibers that covered its body is still intact and the flight membrane is also in superb condition. In another specimen, musculature glows under UV lighting. These finds have revealed striking details regarding this animal's anatomy which in turn give us clues into how these animals may have lived.
The eyes of anurognathids are uncommonly large, especially for a pterosaur. This indicates a nocturnal life style. Another unusual aspect of their anatomy is their head or, to sound smart, their cranial morphology. Most pterosaurs' skulls are longer than wide but anurognathids are the reverse. Coupled with straight, needle-like teeth and a reletively weak jaw muscles that were better designed to shut the mouth quickly than to create a powerful bite indicates that these creatures were insectivorous. Nocturnal bug eaters, sounds kind of like a bat doesn't it?
Recent discoveries have indicated that pterosaurs took-off using their forelimbs which is in contrast to birds who rely on their hind-limbs. The musculature of anurognathids is very robust which indicates that they would have a rather explosive and sharply vertical take off. This also indicates that they were powerful fliers. The bones that make up their wing fingers are able to articulate while most pterosaurs wing-fingers do not articulate. This ability to articulate their wing fingers would allow them to have greater control over their wing membrane thus allowing more agility in flight. Amazingly, anurognathid's wing finger would have been able to stand forces 22 times their body weight! The average bird is able to stand only 0.72 times their own body weight. All of these incredible attributes would have made them amazing aerial acrobatics. I tend to think that they probably could have been able to hover a limited period of time as well.
They also probably weren't the speediest fliers in the sky, however but these designs are perfect for nabbing flying insects during flight. Insects tend to be powerful and nimble fliers that are not averse to pulling acrobatic stunts to escape from possible predators. Anurognathids probably pursued their prey in the air chasing them down in a similar manner to bats. However, one important difference between bats and anuragnathids is that they rely on echo-location while anurognathids probably relied on sight.

A, B Owl feathers, C, D Pigeon feather, E distal end of anurognathid wing

Another very unique characteristic of anurognathids is a tuft of pycnofibers on the tip of their wing membrane. The use for this unknown. Two of the best options are that 1) it would have silenced their wings during flight and 2) to allow higher maneuverability and to avoid stalling when flying sharp inclines. The first option is possible for the very same characteristic is observed in owls. Owls hunt rodents that have excellent hearing and the slightest sound made by an owl would be enough for a rodent to hear. therefore, owls have feathers at the very tip of their wings that are very soft and combed which deaden sounds when flapping. This design is very similar to what is found on anurognathids. My question at that point is "what kind of insects were they eating?" This could lead to a study of the hearing ability of insects and what kind of insects were anurognathids munching on. I tend to think that the tuft of pycnofibers somehow effected their flight for better maneuverability. I am not sure how exactly but I hope to look into that topic someday.
What makes anurognathids truly amazing is their flight capabilities. These animals were definitely powerful, acrobatic while in the air. 
During the day, anurognathids probably hid, tucking their wings close to their bodies to help avoid detection. Anurognathids most likely lacked a head-crest and that would have been helpful for avoiding detection during the day. The claws of anurognathids seem well designed for clinging to trees. They probably hid in trees during the day, possibly even have coloration that would have allowed them to blend into the bark.
Hopefully, you have found this interesting and, hopefully, this has done justice to anurognathids and pterosaurs in general. Anurognathids are truly amazing animals. It would have been a thrill to see the sky at dusk with these furry beasts darting through the air after insects. For more reading on these animals, here is an in-depth look into the soft-tissue anatomy of Jeholopterus and here. Also for information on pterosaurs in general, here is an excellent book on the subject. I look forward to writing future posts in this series.