mirrodie
2009-08-19, 09:59 AM
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,540 ... latestnews (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,540523,00.html?test=latestnews)
A prehistoric runway for flying pterosaurs has been discovered for the first time.
Scientists uncovered the first known landing tracks of one of these extinct flying reptiles at a site dubbed "Pterosaur Beach," in the fine-grained limestone deposits of an ancient lagoon in southwestern France dating back some 140 million years ago to the Late Jurassic.
The footprints suggest the pterosaur — a "pterodactyloid" with a wingspan roughly three feet wide — flapped to stall its flight during landing, and then planted both its two-inch-long feet simultaneously at a high angle.
A prehistoric runway for flying pterosaurs has been discovered for the first time.
Scientists uncovered the first known landing tracks of one of these extinct flying reptiles at a site dubbed "Pterosaur Beach," in the fine-grained limestone deposits of an ancient lagoon in southwestern France dating back some 140 million years ago to the Late Jurassic.
The footprints suggest the pterosaur — a "pterodactyloid" with a wingspan roughly three feet wide — flapped to stall its flight during landing, and then planted both its two-inch-long feet simultaneously at a high angle.