Biomechanics and evolution of the pterosaurs neck construction

• Antragsteller: Dr. Michael Fastnacht
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Paläontologie
• Förderung: Förderung von 2008 bis 2009
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 65656022

In pterosaurs, the neck plays a vital biological role during foraging and exploration as well as for locomotion. The neck therefore has to stabilise the head during flight and on the other hand has to ensure enough mobility for the skull to permit catching food items. In accordance with the skull, the neck construction thus determines the optional operational range of an essential sub-system of the pterosaur body. One aim of this project is to review and categorise the different pterosaur neck morphologies and to reconstruct the bracing systems of the different neck constructions. Another aim is to reconstruct the kinematics and kinetics of these neck constructions and to analyse the stress/strain-patterns within the neck vertebrae during feeding and flight. This will include classical mechanical investigations as well as the investigation of the kinematics of virtual reality models and the usage of FESS (Finite-element structure synthesis). We expect accompanying insights into the palaeobiology and evolution of pterosaurs and an answer to the question how this corresponds to the decrease of feeding habits and theevolution of gigantism towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Here we expect biological explanations for the extinction of the pterosaurs at the Cretaceous/Tertiary-boundary.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen