Michael Habib

Paleontologist. Makes doctors and hunts monsters. Gets to play with flying reptiles and dinosaurs for a living. Enjoys tea and Kung Fu off the job.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@SolitaryWendigo Yes indeed. On an average day, marine cloud street transit speed for a large Pteranodon would be on the order of 40-50mph (effective ground speed). So, they could make the 207 mile journey in a morning. They wouldn’t even be tired on arrival.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@lolacoaster They may be banking on the idea that the “parallel to our own present” was a primary point of appeal for the original books and films. To that end, FB is almost a different franchise. This has more synergy with the parks, which are major investment

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@Graham_Coop @hoffsbeefs Correct: the do not eat during the trip and they are continuous flapping flyers. What they do is build up a bunch of fat, first, then burn both fat and muscle along the way. C. Pennycuick called this “burning the engine”. They land at 50% starting weight.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

In case folks missed it, a new non-stop flight record was set four months ago. The godwit codenamed B6 completed an 8,425 mi (13,559 km) non-stop, flapping flight migration in 11 days. They may look cute and silly, but shorebirds are among the most athletic animals to ever exist.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

The whole team really went the extra distance on this. S2 is going to be fantastic. Be sure to tune in!

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

https://t.co/Qgkr4PoDzZ

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@MichaelChiappo3 @TetZoo @Wounded_Buffalo @jclarkepaleolab Excellent to hear! He was also one hell of an advisor. I cannot say enough good things about Dave Weishampel. One of the best human beings I will ever know. And brilliant.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@TetZoo @Wounded_Buffalo @jclarkepaleolab Also love that they included my suggestion of plate rattling in Stegosaurus. That was on my mind following conversations with @BrianEngh_Art

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@TetZoo @Wounded_Buffalo @jclarkepaleolab I am very pleased that they included the references to David Weishampel, who really started it all. And I am amused that they included my low frequency sound pulse impression.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@levarburton Happy Wednesday! Wet and chilly, indeed. Hat tip to our providers @UCLAHealth who are getting patients dry and warm as fast as possible.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@TetZoo @oliveratlantis And most insects are not arthropods, I suppose. Well, as adults. As larva they must be because only the adults fly.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@oliveratlantis @TetZoo This is not only not a “need”, it is undesirable. “Evolutionary taxonomy” acts as if our subjective feelings about how different things are have value.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@BrianEngh_Art Confidence isn’t all or nothing. Sure, small changes can make a difference in performance, but that’s why performance is properly modeled as a range. “At least as good as X, and no better than Y”.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@BrianEngh_Art Down with this take with the caveat that we can have some confidence about performance (especially in more constrained systems), which is different from claiming confidence in ecology. Of course, that only helps if you do the math, which is often lacking in paleontology

[Melanie During, PhD. ⛏🦕🦖🦩🍉 @MelanieDuring]

I love stock images of scientists

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@Macbeth62944945 @JaimeHeadden @DanPalaeon1 Also worth noting here that those are older reconstructions. Check out the updated reconstruction by @skeletaldrawing here: https://t.co/CaQuwxyvcI

Note the palmar surfaces of the fingers point anteromedial. The fingers are straight, gracile, and likely bound in a common sheath.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@Macbeth62944945 @JaimeHeadden @DanPalaeon1 Birds have extensive ligaments around the fingers, as well. Remember that ligaments only load in tension, so they're not going to so much strengthen the fingers as stiffen/restrict the interphalangeal joints.

[Michael Habib @aeroevo]

@Macbeth62944945 @JaimeHeadden @DanPalaeon1 What is your reconstruction of the patagium based on? In dromaeosaurs where we have forelimb soft tissues (such as microraptorines) the fingers appear to fully bound in a patagium and not suited to grasping. Torsional strength was weak - that's easy enough to calculate.