135 / 2025-04-04 11:45:17

Sails on tails: How Laser Stimulated Fluorescence aids the understanding of pterosaur flight

flight,evolution,pterosaurs

Theme 3: Earth-Life Co-evolution Through Time > Session 3k: The Fossil Record and Evolution of the Tetrapod Integument

Pterosaurs, extinct Mesozoic reptiles, were the first and largest vertebrates to achieve active volancy (Jagielska & Brusatte, 2021). The pioneers of flight, long-tailed non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs sported long caudal vertebral sections ending with a thin, soft tissue vane. The vane varies in shape between species and ontogenetic stages (Bennett, 1995), being rhomboid in shape in sub-adult Rhamphorhynchus or multi-lobate as in Sordes or Pterorhynchus. In the following study (Jagielska et al., 2024) Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence (LSF) (Kaye et al., 2015) was used on multiple specimens of Rhamphorhynchus to reveal a previously unseen cross-linking lattice supporting the tail membrane. The intersecting lattice likely facilitated dynamic tensioning limiting drag-inducing flutter by maintaining membrane stiffness. The research shows how emerging screening techniques, such as LSF, help reconstruct the evolution of flight and the appearance of long-gone elusive animals.

Pterosaurs, extinct Mesozoic reptiles, were the first and largest vertebrates to achieve active volancy (Jagielska & Brusatte, 2021). The pioneers of flight, long-tailed non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs sported long caudal vertebral sections ending with a thin, soft tissue vane. The vane varies in shape between species and ontogenetic stages (Bennett, 1995), being rhomboid in shape in sub-adult Rhamphorhynchus or multi-lobate as in Sordes or Pterorhynchus. In the following study (Jagielska et al., 2024) Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence (LSF) (Kaye et al., 2015) was used on multiple specimens of Rhamphorhynchus to reveal a previously unseen cross-linking lattice supporting the tail membrane. The intersecting lattice likely facilitated dynamic tensioning limiting drag-inducing flutter by maintaining membrane stiffness. The research shows how emerging screening techniques, such as LSF, help reconstruct the evolution of flight and the appearance of long-gone elusive animals.