

Re: JP3 Trailer

Christopher Ott wrote:
The published accounts put Pteranodon sternbergi (the largest species of
Pteranodon) at about 30 feet in wingspan.  P. longiceps is about 23 to 25
feet or so.   They probably used Pteranodon because it is more recognizable
to the public, with the crest and all.
As I concluded myself. However, I hadn't known about a Pteranodon species with wingspans over 23-25ft. IIRC, isn't P. sterbergi's wingspan under 30ft.? The article in the latest National Geographic (May, p. 103) states that the wingspan is 24 ft. for that particular species. In any case, the species represented in JP3 isn't P. sternbergi. The JP3 species possesses the long narrow, rearward-pointing crest, not the rudder-like, upwards-pointing crest of P. sternbergi. That would be P. longiceps, and its wingspan is definitely under 30ft., probably under 25ft.

BTW, detailed construction of Pteranodon longiceps life-size fiber-glass models from the Canadian Museum of Nature can be found here. These models are probably the best reconstructions of Pteranodon longiceps to date. I would love to see a Quetzalcoatlus model created with the same skill some day.

It would appear that the JP writers chose well-known species and scaled them up to the size of the largest known specimen from the same family for greater visual effect. The Pteranodons may be close to the size of Quetzalcoatlus in JP3, representing the largest pterosaurs but in a familiar profile. Similarly, the Velociraptors are scaled-up to the size of Utahraptor representing the largest of that family. Brachiosaurus scaled up to the size of Sauroposeidon, etc. Incidentally, I had always found the T. rex too large when compared to museum skeletal mounts. All in the name of artistic license I suppose...

 I wasn't on the list during any
debate about the "branch incident," but our paleo group here has discussed
it at length.
Neither was I, but expect the general consensus concluded that the scene was impossible due to the anatomical design of Pteranodon's legs, hips, spine, etc.