And to think, thet did it without air traffic controllers

Prehistoric 'Runway' Used by Flying Reptile

A prehistoric runway for flying pterosaurs has been discovered for the first time.

Scientists uncovered the first known landing tracks of one of these extinct flying reptiles at a site dubbed "Pterosaur Beach," in the fine-grained limestone deposits of an ancient lagoon in southwestern France dating back some 140 million years ago to the Late Jurassic.


The footprints suggest the pterosaur - a "pterodactyloid" with a wingspan roughly three feet wide (one meter) - flapped to stall its flight during landing, and then planted both its two-inch-long feet (five cm) simultaneously at a high angle.


The reptile next dragged its toes briefly, took a short "stutter step" - perhaps a hop with both feet - and landed, settling its hands. It finally adjusted its posture and ambled off normally on all fours.


"No other trackways ascribed to pterosaurs in the world have shown either landings or takeoffs," said researcher Kevin Padian, a paleontologist at the University of California at Berkeley.


Pterosaurs, like birds, "were very light animals, and didn't tend to leave as many tracks when compared to, say, a 50-ton sauropod," the largest dinosaurs to ever stride the earth, explained paleontologist David Hone at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of China in Beijing, who did not participate in this study.


"If tracks from pterosaurs are going to get preserved, it's likely to be in the softest muds or finest sands, and it's unlikely even then, so to get traces of a pterosaur landing like this is very exciting," Hone noted. He added the case the researchers make for the way the pterosaurs landed "is very strong and convincing."


The fact this pterosaur had the capability to stall during flight implies sophisticated flapping control of the wings, Padian said. Future research will hopefully uncover tracks made during takeoff, shedding further light on how these extinct creatures once flew.


"There are hundreds of trackways in this big quarry," Padian said.

I think I saw it in the move Ice age 3 Dawn of the Dinosaurs last Monday.

it was that good you don't remember

KK wrote:

it was that good you don't remember

Well being in 3D it had my mind scrambled...

Joebert wrote:

KK wrote:

it was that good you don't remember

Well being in 3D it had my mind scrambled...

the first 3d movie i ever saw gave me a headache

KK wrote:

Joebert wrote:

KK wrote:

it was that good you don't remember

Well being in 3D it had my mind scrambled...

the first 3d movie i ever saw gave me a headache

This was an excellent one to see in 3D but go to an IMAX and see something in 3D, it's even better. Saw a couple out in Vegas.

the first one i saw was some soft core porn thing

KK wrote:

the first one i saw was some soft core porn thing

Did you want to reach out and touch something?

Giada wrote:

KK wrote:

the first one i saw was some soft core porn thing

Did you want to reach out and touch something?

after 5 minutes I had a headache and took the glasses off and watched a blurry movie