The Quetzalcoatlus, a dinosaur with a wingspan of 35 feet, is thought to be the largest flying animal in Earth history. Some paleontologists think that it was so big that it wouldn't have been able to get off the ground. Mike Habib, a scholar of biomechanics at Chatham University decided to investigate this claim. He and his colleague, paleontologist Mark Witton, concluded that this dinosaur could probably fly enormous distances:
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/16/131362653/peerless-pterosaur-could-fly-long-distance-for-days via Glenn Reynolds | Image: NASA
Previously: The Tiniest Pterosaur
So Habib teamed up with Mark Witton, a British paleontologist, to plug in factors like wingspan, weight and aerodynamics into a computer model.
The results, which they presented at a conference last month, were staggering: They revealed an animal that could fly up to 80 miles an hour for 7 to 10 days at altitudes of 15,000 feet. The maximum range, Habib says, was probably between 8,000 and 12,000 miles.
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/16/131362653/peerless-pterosaur-could-fly-long-distance-for-days via Glenn Reynolds | Image: NASA
Previously: The Tiniest Pterosaur