TPO 47 Question Summarize the points made in the lecture being sure to explain how they cast doubt on the specific points made in the reading passage

TPO 47 - Task 1

Both the reading and the lecture discuss whether pterosaurs were able to fly or not. While the reading suggests that these presumably big animals could only glide, the lecturer indicates that they could fly as well. The lecturer casts doubt on the main points the reading states by providing three compelling examples.

First, the reading suggests that since pterosaurs were cold-blooded animals, they could not fly. It supports its idea by stating that cold-blooded animals have a slow metabolism and can not do energy-consuming activities like flying. On the contrary, the lecturer refutes this argument by suggesting that these animals are indeed warm-blooded. She goes on to explain that a recent study found that fossils related to these animals have some hair that is usually associated with warm-blooded animals. Therefore, pterosaurs are warm-blooded and have the ability to fly.

Second, according to the reading, animals need to be light-weighted so as to be able to fly, whereas, in the case of pterosaurs, this is particularly not true as they are relatively heavy. Nonetheless, the lecturer argues that pterosaurs have features that make them lighter than thought. In particular, she says that scientists have found bones associated with these animals that are hollow; as a result, their weight is lower than previously thought, so they can easily be air-borne.

Third, the reading argues that in order to fly, pterosaurs should have had big muscles to let them launch into the air, and as we know, they did not have a good back leg for support. Therefore, they could not have flown. Nevertheless, the lecturer points out that there is a difference between birds and pterosaurs: pterosaurs have four limbs instead of two. Consequently, they would not need to be very long and powerful.