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Pterosaurs lived with birds.
Aug 14
The world's first pterosaur tracks from Japan, documented in a new study, suggest these “Dinosaur-Age” flying reptiles not only coexisted with birds, but that the two groups also hung out together when they weren't soaring the skies; a fact that would not surprise creation scientists.
A lone siltstone slab contains the fossilized footprints, made by pterosaurs, birds and amphibians.
"I think that a group of small pterosaurs was feeding together near a pond or near a lake," lead author Yuong-Nam Lee said, adding "there are lots of feeding beak marks."
Lee, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, thinks "there were probably abundant food (sources) in the sediments" of what is now the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry at Fukui Prefecture, Japan.
The quarry is well named, as the remains of several dinosaurs have been found at the site. Remains of now-extinct fishes, turtles and relatives of crocodiles were discovered there too.
Evolutionists have difficulty showing how pterosaurs might have evolved from bats or birds. Nature magazine reported that researchers used a CAT scanner more powerful than the machine used in hospitals to image the inside of two fossilized pterosaur heads, (Rhamphorhynchus and Anhanguera, taken from Germany and Brazil respectively). The three-dimensional computer images revealed that according to the size of the flocculus -- a brain region designed for controlling movement -- these pterosaurs could in fact outperform "modern birds and bats."3 The research shows these pterosaurs were amazingly complex. The flocculus took up over seven percent of the brain mass of the pterosaur, whereas birds use but two percent. One researcher suggested this enlargement was because the pterosaur used huge amounts of information collected by the expansive wing membrane. The wing seemed to be an "extra sensory organ."
The pterosaur was a remarkable flying reptile of the pre-Flood, and possibly post-Flood world. They must have been an incredible sight in their day. Pterosaurs came in a wide variety. The largest had a wingspan of 40 ft (12m) Quetzalcoatlus named after a winged serpent god.
How did pterosaurs acquire flight? Secular scientists are not sure. The fourth digit in the hand of Quetzalcoatlus was amazingly lengthened to act as the wing's main support. Indeed, the first time pterosaurs are found in the fossil record they are creatures with large brains and hollow bones -- able to take to the air.
Genesis answers huge flying reptile problem
As mentioned, giant pterosaurs, colossal winged reptiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs, have long been considered the heaviest animals ever to take to the skies. But new evolutionary based research suggests that the notion of giant pterosaurs soaring over Earth simply doesn't fly. Based on the weights and body sizes of modern birds, a new study finds that animals heavier than 90 pounds (41 kilograms) with wingspans greater than 16.7 feet (5.1 meters) wouldn't be able to flap fast enough to stay aloft.
The conclusion casts serious doubt on the flying ability of large pterosaurs such as Quetzalcoatlus, thought to be one of the largest airborne animals of all time weighing 550 pounds (250 kilograms) and had a 34.1 foot (10.4 meter) wingspan, nearly as wide as a school bus is long.
"I think that the giant pterosaurs could not stay aloft in an environment similar to the present," said study leader Katsufumi Sato, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo's Ocean Research Institute.
Even if they could stay up, the bulky beasts would have had trouble getting off the ground in the first place, Sato said. "Takeoff is the hardest task. I suppose they could not take off using only muscular efforts."
Sato journeyed to the southern Indian Ocean to study the world's largest bird, the wandering albatross, and four smaller bird species. All five species are considered to be soaring birds—flyers that use a strategy of gliding punctuated by sporadic flapping, as pterosaurs are generally thought to have flown. The researcher outfitted 26 birds with tiny accelerometers, which collected data on their flapping speeds from takeoff to landing. Comparing the data across species, Sato found that the flapping speeds required for a bird to take off and then stay cruising are linked to its body size.
According to study leader Sato, it’s possible heavy pterosaurs overcame their difficulties during takeoff by launching themselves from high places such as trees or cliffs. But if pterosaurs really were capable of sustained flight, "we must think about the possibility of drastic change in other environmental factors, such as much lighter gravity or much denser air over geological time," he said.
In general, Sato thinks the reactions from paleontologists have been "not so negative," despite the fact that his conclusions would bring huge pterosaurs abruptly down to Earth. He is expecting his biggest critic to be much closer to home. "My six-year-old son, Takuto, is a dinosaur freak," he said, "and will never agree with my findings."
However, Takuto would be happy to know that even though giant flying reptiles such as Quetzalcoatlus would not be able to fly in our present day atmosphere; his Dad is correct in speculating that the air was denser in the past.
Genesis 1:6-8 reveals that the original atmosphere on earth was different than it is today. It speaks of water not only being on the earth but above the atmosphere.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
This water canopy above the expanse or sky would be the hard ceiling which would cause the air pressure to be substantially greater. Scientists now believe that the air pressure during the time of the dinosaurs would have had to be about twice the levels of today. Why is this important?
For starters, reptiles of enormous size namely dinosaurs could not
breathe in today’s atmosphere. The animal’s lungs would not be efficient enough
to get oxygen to the muscles in their body. For the real heavyweights of the dinosaur world, the Sauropods and Titanosaurus, their immense size led to their own anatomical problems. The long necks on the likes of Apatosaurus and Brachiosaurus were too long to reach their lungs. They could not breathe!
Secondly, (as mentioned), the sheer size and weight of some of the flying reptiles would not have been able to provide enough lift to produce flight. Scientists know that they could not have flown in the present-day atmosphere. With the air twice as dense as today's atmosphere they would have found it very easy to attain flight.
They needed a heavier atmosphere to get enough air to lift them with their 30 to 40-foot wingspans. The system revealed in Genesis 1:6-8, would have provided the heavier atmospheric pressure necessary for the flight of these huge creatures. Evolutionists say we don't know how these giant reptiles could have flown in our atmosphere. To the Creation scientist, this is not a problem. Before the water canopy came down at the flood of Noah's day, it would have provided the air density needed for these huge creatures to fly.
Book speaker Larry Dye “the Creation Guy” for creation presentations at you Church or organization.
Book a Tour at the Creation Discovery Centre, a creation museum learning centre located in Bow Island, Alberta, Canada.
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