Sordes pilosus and the nature of the pterosaur flight apparatus
Sordes pilosus and the nature of the pterosaur flight apparatus
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DOI：
10.1038/371062a0
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发表时间：
1994-09
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
D. Unwin;Natasha N. Bakhurina
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
D. Unwin;Natasha N. Bakhurina
现在人们普遍认为翼龙，中生代爬行动物，是真正的飞行者，但它们飞行装置的性质仍然有很大争议。已经提出的证据支持鸟类状的重建，没有腿的狭窄僵硬的翅膀1-6，以及蝙蝠状的重建，其广泛的翅膀包括前肢和后肢7-10，但这些模型所基于的Solnhofen石灰岩翼龙没有得到足够好的保存，无法解决这些相互冲突的解释。在这里，我们提出了一个新的模式，建立在来自中亚侏罗纪的Sordes Pilosus(参考文献)。11，以及N.N.B.和D.M.U，提交的手稿)，其中保存极为完好的翼龙的翼膜表明，翼龙的后肢与飞行装置密切相关；翼龙的后肢与主翼膜外部相连，内部由尾板连接，由第五个脚趾控制。Sordes还揭示了翼龙在飞行脊椎动物中独一无二的结构不均匀的飞行表面，外部一半变硬，内部区域更柔软，更可扩展。
IT is now generally accepted that pterosaurs, Mesozoic reptiles, were true fliers, but the nature of their flight apparatus is still much disputed. Evidence has been presented in favour of bird-like reconstructions with narrow, stiff wings free of the legs1–6and bat-like reconstructions with extensive wings incorporating both fore and hind limbs7–10, but the Solnhofen Limestone pterosaurs, upon which these models are based, are not sufficiently well preserved to resolve these conflicting interpretations. Here we present a new model, founded onSordes pilosusfrom the Jurassic of middle Asia (ref. 11, and N.N.B. and D.M.U., manuscript submitted), in which exceptionally well preserved wing membranes show that the hind limbs of pterosaurs were intimately involved in the flight apparatus; connected externally to the main wing membrane and internally by a uropatagium, controlled by the fifth toe.Sordesalso reveals that, uniquely among flying vertebrates, pterosaurs had a structurally non-homogenous flight surface with a stiffened outer half and a softer, more extensible inner region.