Griffin, BW, Martin-Silverstone, E, Pêgas, RV, Meilak, EA, Costa, FR, Palmer, C and Rayfield, EJ (2024) Modelling take-off moment arms in an ornithocheiraean pterosaur. PeerJ, 12. ISSN 2167-8359

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Abstract

Take-off is a vital part of powered flight which likely constrains the size of birds, yet extinct pterosaurs are known to have reached far larger sizes. Three different hypothesised take-off motions (bipedal burst launching, bipedal countermotion launching, and quadrupedal launching) have been proposed as explanations for how pterosaurs became airborne and circumvented this proposed morphological limit. We have constructed a computational musculoskeletal model of a 5 m wingspan ornithocheiraean pterosaur, reconstructing thirty-four key muscles to estimate the muscle moment arms throughout the three hypothesised take-off motions. Range of motion constrained hypothetical kinematic sequences for bipedal and quadrupedal take-off motions were modelled after extant flying vertebrates. Across our simulations we did not find higher hindlimb moment arms for bipedal take-off motions or noticeably higher forelimb moment arms in the forelimb for quadrupedal take-off motions. Despite this, in all our models we found the muscles utilised in the quadrupedal take-off have the largest total launch applicable moment arms throughout the entire take-off sequences and for the take-off pose. This indicates the potential availability of higher leverage for a quadrupedal takeoff than hypothesised bipedal motions in pterosaurs pending further examination of muscle forces.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Pterosaur; Flight; Take-off; Biomechanics; Moment arms; Modelling; Pterosaur; Flight; Take-off; Biomechanics; Moment arms; Modelling; Muscle, Skeletal; Forelimb; Animals; Dinosaurs; Flight, Animal; Models, Biological; Fossils; Computer Simulation; Biomechanical Phenomena; Biomechanics; Flight; Modelling; Moment arms; Pterosaur; Take-off; Animals; Biomechanical Phenomena; Flight, Animal; Dinosaurs; Muscle, Skeletal; Fossils; Models, Biological; Forelimb; Computer Simulation; Animals; Biomechanical Phenomena; Flight, Animal; Dinosaurs; Muscle, Skeletal; Fossils; Models, Biological; Forelimb; Computer Simulation; 06 Biological Sciences; 11 Medical and Health Sciences
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology Q Science > QL Zoology Q Science > QE Geology > QE701 Paleontology
Divisions:	Biological and Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	PeerJ
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	29 Nov 2024 11:13
Last Modified:	29 Nov 2024 11:15
DOI or ID number:	10.7717/peerj.17678
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/24936

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