Huge dinosaurs with long necks could fly with large prey in their teeth due to the special structure of the vertebrae.
This conclusion was reached researchers at the University of Portsmouth who used computed tomography to study fossils, writes Daily Mail.
They examined the remains pterosaur Alanga saharica, excavated in Morocco in 2010, which died 95 million years ago.
They found that the vertebrae on the pterosaur’s neck were positioned like the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Scientists note that nothing like this has ever been seen in other animals.
“They are arranged radially like the spokes of a bicycle wheel – in a spiral along the length of the vertebrae. They even intersect like the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Evolution has made these creatures amazingly efficient pilots.” – say the authors of the study.
Note that pterosaurs lived on our planet from about 66 to 225 million years ago. In height, these dinosaurs were taller than the modern giraffe.
Such a discovery shed light on how these huge beasts could catch and carry heavy prey without breaking their necks.
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