To talk about the story of the pterosaur family, we still have to start from the Triassic. The pterosaurs at that time were probably creatures like Screrosaurus. However, due to the extreme drought at that time, large predators could not survive at all, so many predators could only feed on insects. Of course, our pterosaurs were also one of these creatures. ?
Since insects have strong flying capabilities, if you want to catch them, you must have strong jumping capabilities and longer staying time in the air, and you must not consume too much energy. So during tens of thousands of years of evolution, they continued to grow their ring fingers and strengthen their membranes, and jumping slowly turned into gliding and finally flying. ?
And then Mother Earth sent a second wave of benefits? A rainfall that lasted for 2 million years. The huge amount of precipitation directly turned the entire Pangea continent into a rain forest. Dense vegetation in turn breeds more insects. They are all fat and strong, including giant locusts with a length of 30 centimeters, giant cicadas with a length of 50 centimeters, and of course there are many anonymous cannon fodder that will become extinct soon. ?
In addition, there are no terrifying predators like Mr. Bei. If you can fly, the whole sky will be your cafeteria.
So, these species favored by God began their cheating journey.
Due to the abundant food, their nutrition has become very sufficient. The physical fitness of these animals is getting better and better, and they are growing bigger and bigger. Soon eating bugs can no longer satisfy them.
So they evolved towards more ecological niches, adhering to the principle of equal exposure to rain and dew, and they evolved into fish-eating, dinosaur-eating, shellfish-eating, grass-eating, omnivorous, Scavengers blah blah blah. It can be said that the recipe makes Cantonese people feel inferior.
At this time, the pterosaur family officially reached its peak, and its fossil record was also rich for a while. More than 30 kinds of pterosaurs have been discovered in China's Liaoning Province alone. So under the huge pressure to name them, scientists began the seemingly random naming work.
The first method that scientists think of is: whoever discovers it first will be named after him. But this approach soon became overwhelmed by the sheer number of species. ?
Same as naming people, naming places soon had the same fate. ?
Scientists then named them based on their appearance. For example, the long mouth was called the Gun-billed Pterosaur, and the long tail was called the Long-tailed Pterosaur. However, as the number of discovered species further increased, finally little by little The imagination of serious scientists was exhausted, so the style of pterosaur names began to change. ?
Those who traveled through time from the Journey to the West crew:
Wukong Pterodactyl, Douzhan Pterodactyl, etc.
Self-proclaimed God Pterodactyl:
The wingspan of Aeolian Pterosaur can reach twelve meters, and it can fly more than ten kilometers by moving its wings. Quetzalcoatlus Pterosaur, Ancient God Pterosaur, etc.
Summary:
Although the names of many prehistoric creatures may seem funny, it is undeniable that scientists are actually more cautious when choosing names. Naturally, we should also look at and understand them rationally.