Pteraichnites' and their implications for pterosaur terrestrial palaeoecology and evolution

翼龙是一种中生代会飞的爬行动物，长期以来被认为几乎完全局限于空中的小生境，在地面上只有有限的流动性(Unwin，2005)。有两条证据挑战了这一观点：(1)迅速积累和日益多样化的翼龙足迹记录(翼龙)，跨越8000多万年；(2)基于骨骼遗骸和足迹的翼龙陆地运动能力的数字建模。这些研究表明，翼龙使用平足、四条腿，但效率很高的站姿和步态。他们还发现了一些意想不到的行为，例如四足发射，这表明起飞和降落的能力比之前怀疑的要有效得多。这些新的发现表明翼龙在中生代陆地群落中的作用比之前认识的要大得多(Witton，2013)，但这种现象的程度和进化意义仍然不清楚，也存在争议。该项目将使用多学科方法重新评估翼龙对中生代陆地生物群的贡献及其对共同进化的类群，如早期鸟类的影响(Benson等人，2014)。包括摄影测量技术在内的新技术将构成对翼龙记录的第一次系统分析的一部分。这项工作将产生一系列数据集，捕捉指纹和足迹的精细细节，这些数据可以与包括沉积学、地层学和相关的遗迹和遗体化石证据在内的背景数据结合起来。这些数据集将支持PHD的三个互补链：(1)基于美国和欧洲的关键地点重建翼龙的运动方式和能力(站姿、步态、速度、取食和着陆模式)。(2)首次通过指纹和保存完好的骨骼遗骸的3D数字化，全面整合翼龙的生物和遗体化石记录。(3)确定和重建特定行为(例如，觅食、群聚)，这些行为是在发生这些行为的古环境的当前解释中设定的。这三项研究的结果将与翼龙的关系、时间和生物地理分布的数据结合起来，以确定它们对中生代陆地生物群的贡献程度，并影响鸟类等同时代群体的进化。

Pterosaurs, Mesozoic flying reptiles, were long considered to have been almost exclusively confined to aerial niches, with only limited mobility when on the ground (Unwin, 2005). Two lines of evidence have challenged this view: (1) a rapidly accumulating and increasingly diverse pterosaur track record (pteraichnites) that spans more than 80 million years; (2) digital modelling, based on skeletal remains and tracks, of pterosaur's terrestrial locomotory abilities. These studies show that pterosaurs used a flat-footed, four-legged, but nevertheless highly efficient, stance and gait. They have also uncovered some unexpected behaviours, such as a quadrupedal launch, that point to a far more effective ability to take-off and land than previously suspected. These new findings suggest that pterosaurs played a much bigger role in Mesozoic terrestrial communities than previously realised (Witton, 2013), but the extent and evolutionary significance of this phenomenon remains unclear and controversial.This project will use a multidisciplinary approach to reassess the contribution of pterosaurs to Mesozoic continental biotas and their impact on co-evolving groups such as early birds (Benson et al, 2014). New techniques including photogrammetric ichnology will form part of the first systematic analysis of the pterosaur track record. This work will generate a range of data sets that capture fine detail of prints and tracks that can be combined with contextual data including sedimentology, stratigraphy and associated ichnological and body fossil evidence. These data sets will underpin three complementary strands of the PhD: (1) reconstruction of the locomotory styles and abilities of pterosaurs (stance, gait, speed, take-of and landing modes) based on key sites in the USA and Europe. (2) The first comprehensive integration of the ichnological and body fossil record of pterosaurs via 3D digitisation of prints and well preserved skeletal remains. (3) Identification and reconstruction of specific behaviours (e.g. feeding, flocking) set within current interpretations of the palaeoenvironments in which they occurred. Results of these three studies will be combined with data on the relationships and temporal and biogeographic distribution of pterosaurs to determine the extent to which they contributed to Mesozoic terrestrial biotas and influenced the evolution of contemporaneous groups such as birds.