Studying pterosaurs and other fossil flyers to better engineer manmade flight
Wednesday, April 15, 2020 - 10:10
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Pterosaurs were the largest animals ever to fly. They soared the skies for 160 million years—much longer than any species of modern bird. Despite their aeronautic excellence, these ancient flyers have largely been overlooked in the pursuit of bioinspired flight technologies. In a review published April 15 in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution researchers outline why and how the physiology of fossil flyers could provide ancient solutions to modern flight problems, such as aerial stability and the ability of drones to self-launch.