Pterosaurs used pole vault trick to fly

A new study reveals that the Pterosaurs used a "pole-vaulting" action to take to the air. These creatures took off using their four limbs.

These reptiles vaulted over their wings pushing their hind limbs first and then thrusting themselves upwards with their powerful arm muscles - not dissimilar to some modern bats.

Pterosaurs and dinosaurs lived at the same time, but the pterosaurs belonged to a different group of reptiles. They existed from the Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous.

Dr Mark Witton at Portsmouth University, UK, and Dr Michael Habib of Chatham University, Pennsylvania, US, reappraised giant pterosaur fossils. Their findings challenges others that the giant pterosaurs such as Pteranodon and the largest azhdarchids were not capable of flying.

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