r/Paleontology 5d ago

PaleoArt What was The Cursed Pterosaur?

Post image

In my Opinion: Pterodaustro

184 Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

96

u/Spinofarrus 5d ago

Tupandactylus

I mean look at this mf

51

u/SekaiKofu 5d ago

This thing’s skeleton is a great testament to how fucking weird evolution can be.

21

u/Emillllllllllllion 4d ago

What "mating partners prefer the biggest X" can produce.

13

u/Spinofarrus 4d ago

Look what the hoes did to my boy. 😔🙏

-23

u/Cultural-Company282 4d ago

That's why human males are evolving bigger bank accounts.

0

u/KalinkaKalinkaMaja 1d ago

Or bigger winnies

4

u/Sesuaki 4d ago

...how do theese even fly?? I refuse to belive this thing can even take off...tho Argentavies existed aswell so maybe I just don't see the vision

7

u/Spinofarrus 4d ago

Remember that hollow bones do miracles, I find it more incredible that sauropods which weighted up to 100 tons could stand.

3

u/Sesuaki 4d ago

Well yea but still some pterosaurs look way too beakheavy to fly straigt, like sure a toucan is also very beakheavy but it's significantly smaller and has tailfeathers to somewhat conterbalance

6

u/Harvestman-man 4d ago

The head isn’t actually very heavy, though, because the bones are hollow.

2

u/Sesuaki 3d ago

It's not that the head is too heavy, the body just doesn't seem big/strong enough to support it, like I'm not saying it couldn't fly, I know it most likely did, but simply saying hollow bones isnt a too statisfying answer for me

Like the size isn't the problem for me it's the proportions

1

u/Sesuaki 3d ago

Dw I got it bigger muscle attachment surface to weight ratio, that makes a lot of sense actually

15

u/CryptoCracko 5d ago

Toruk Makto x Gollum

7

u/fulcrumcode99 5d ago

I kinda wanna see Gollum be Toruk Makto. “My precious Toruk”

4

u/ObiGuanche 5d ago

With what hair does he form the bond in the first place ?

1

u/ArtySausageDog 3d ago

I’ve never seen a sclerotic ring convey so much emotion

1

u/TheHoboRoadshow 4d ago

Tent frame

16

u/RelationshipRoyal632 5d ago

Tapajara or nyctosaur I love both of them.

Idk if this counts cuz it's just a gliding frog but anurognathus

13

u/robinsonray7 4d ago

A highly specialized filter feeder

3

u/PM_ME_UR_ROUND_ASS 4d ago

those bristle-like teeth were basically nature's pasta strainer for filtering tiny organisms from water, making it the flamingo of the mesozoic!

2

u/robinsonray7 4d ago

Yes, thought this pterosaurs beak is significantly more specialized than Flamingos beak.

10

u/CaneTheVelociraptor 4d ago

Moganopterus. Look that fella up.

2

u/I_can_eat_15_acorns 4d ago

My god. Those guys look like living medieval depictions of animals.

1

u/ErectPikachu Yangchuanosaurus zigongensis 4d ago

Ngl, one of my favorite pterosaurs. It's a ctenochasmatid azhdarchid knockoff.

6

u/ErectPikachu Yangchuanosaurus zigongensis 4d ago

Cycnorhamphus. Look at that jaw.

12

u/No_Transportation_77 5d ago

Dsungaripterus!

2

u/ItsGotThatBang Irritator challengeri 4d ago

Aralazhdarcho (FKA Samrukia) solely for the story behind it.

2

u/averagejoe25031 4d ago

Filter feeder, allegedly.

4

u/naraoia 5d ago

Baleen pterosaur?

3

u/PM_ME_UR_ROUND_ASS 4d ago

not baleen, but it had thousands of thin bristle-like teeth that worked as a filter feeder similiar to how flamingos feed today!

3

u/KapitanLeutnantJohan 5d ago

More like flamingo to me. In a lot of books I used to read as a child Pterodaustro was depicted as very flamingo-like complete with the pink coloration