Pterosaurs were an ancient group of winged reptiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs. Many pterosaurs were very large, some as large as a giraffe and with a wingspan of over 12 meters. Paleontologists have long wondered whether large pterosaurs were capable of powered flight (flying by flapping their wings) or whether they were able only to glide. Several arguments have been made against powered flight.
Doubters point out that since modern reptiles are cold-blooded, ancient reptiles such as pterosaurs were probably cold-blooded as well. Cold-blooded animals typically have a slow metabolism and are unable to produce a lot of energy. Powered flight is an activity requiring a lot of energy, which is why all modern vertebrates that fly are warm-blooded, not cold-blooded. It seemed unlikely that pterosaurs would have been able to generate the energy needed to fly.
Second, there is a limit to the weight of animals that can be kept airborne by powered flight. Pterosaurs that were as large as a giraffe were probably so heavy that they would not have been able to flap their wings fast enough to stay aloft for any length of time.
Third, all animals with powered flight are able to take off from the ground. For example, birds take off by jumping from their legs or running to gain speed and then jumping. But these methods would not have worked for large pterosaurs. Large pterosaurs would have needed big, powerful muscles in their back legs to launch themselves into the air, and we know from fossilized bones that their back leg muscles were too small and weak to allow the pterosaurs to run fast enough or jump high enough to launch themselves into the air.
The reading and the lecture are both about whether powered flight or gliding was true for pterosaurs, which were ancient reptiles from Dinosaur era. The author of the reading believes there are three reasons why pterosaurs were not be able to fly. The lecturer challenges that statements made by the author. she is of the opinion that they were indeed capable of powered flight.
First of all, the author suggests that just like modern reptiles, pterosaurs were cold blood and that means they didn't have enough energy for flight. it is mentioned that powered flight requires lots of energy that is suitable for warm blooded animals. The argument is refuted by the lecturer. she says a fossil a pterosaur with hair like covering have been found. Furthermore, she argues that hair like covering indicates pterosaurs had high metabolism rate and were likely warm blooded.
Secondly, the author posits that weight is a limit for powered flight. The article notes there were pterosaurs as big as giraffe. Consequently, it is more likely that pterosaurs couldn't carry their own weight for flight. The lecturer, however, rebuts this by asserting that pterosaurs had anatomical feature of light weight. she elaborates on this by mentioning that they had hollow bones, and as a result, they were able to fly.
Finally, it is stated in the reading that taking off from ground requires big and powerful leg muscles like birds. The article establishes that from the fossil analysis, pterosaurs' leg muscles were too weak. The lecturer, on the other hand, opposes that birds and pterosaurs are different that birds use hind legs to take off while pterosaurs used all four limbs to push up against ground. she puts forth the idea that there are example of modern animals who use all four limbs to take off, and with this technique, even the pterosaurs as big as giraffe could fly.
| Post date | Users | Rates | Link to Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-12-06 | marii.r67 | 80 | view |
| 2019-11-13 | shirley5001 | 80 | view |
| 2019-11-13 | shirley5001 | 80 | view |
| 2019-11-03 | Seema Modak | 78 | view |
| 2019-11-03 | Seema Modak | 78 | view |
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Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 1, column 233, Rule ID: BEEN_PART_AGREEMENT[2]
Message: Consider using a past participle here: 'been'.
Suggestion: been
...e three reasons why pterosaurs were not be able to fly. The lecturer challenges th...
^^
Line 1, column 249, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...why pterosaurs were not be able to fly. The lecturer challenges that statements mad...
^^^
Line 1, column 309, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: She
...ges that statements made by the author. she is of the opinion that they were indeed...
^^^
Line 3, column 114, Rule ID: EN_CONTRACTION_SPELLING
Message: Possible spelling mistake found
Suggestion: didn't
...urs were cold blood and that means they didnt have enough energy for flight. it is me...
^^^^^
Line 3, column 151, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: It
...ey didnt have enough energy for flight. it is mentioned that powered flight requir...
^^
Line 3, column 295, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: She
...he argument is refuted by the lecturer. she says a fossil a pterosaur with hair lik...
^^^
Line 5, column 179, Rule ID: EN_CONTRACTION_SPELLING
Message: Possible spelling mistake found
Suggestion: couldn't
...ntly, it is more likely that pterosaurs couldnt carry their own weight for flight. The ...
^^^^^^^
Line 5, column 312, Rule ID: LIGHT_WEIGHT[1]
Message: Did you mean 'lightweight'?
Suggestion: lightweight
...at pterosaurs had anatomical feature of light weight. she elaborates on this by mentioning t...
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Line 5, column 326, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: She
...had anatomical feature of light weight. she elaborates on this by mentioning that t...
^^^
Line 7, column 391, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: She
...l four limbs to push up against ground. she puts forth the idea that there are exam...
^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
but, consequently, finally, first, furthermore, however, if, second, secondly, so, while, as a result, first of all, on the other hand
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 22.0 10.4613686534 210% => Less to be verbs wanted.
Auxiliary verbs: 1.0 5.04856512141 20% => OK
Conjunction : 8.0 7.30242825607 110% => OK
Relative clauses : 18.0 12.0772626932 149% => OK
Pronoun: 32.0 22.412803532 143% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 34.0 30.3222958057 112% => OK
Nominalization: 1.0 5.01324503311 20% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1558.0 1373.03311258 113% => OK
No of words: 314.0 270.72406181 116% => OK
Chars per words: 4.96178343949 5.08290768461 98% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.20951839842 4.04702891845 104% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.40858042963 2.5805825403 93% => OK
Unique words: 166.0 145.348785872 114% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.528662420382 0.540411800872 98% => OK
syllable_count: 474.3 419.366225166 113% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.55342163355 97% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 9.0 3.25607064018 276% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Article: 10.0 8.23620309051 121% => OK
Subordination: 0.0 1.25165562914 0% => More adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 2.0 1.51434878587 132% => OK
Preposition: 1.0 2.5761589404 39% => More preposition wanted as sentence beginning.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 18.0 13.0662251656 138% => OK
Sentence length: 17.0 21.2450331126 80% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 38.9419083023 49.2860985944 79% => OK
Chars per sentence: 86.5555555556 110.228320801 79% => OK
Words per sentence: 17.4444444444 21.698381199 80% => OK
Discourse Markers: 7.44444444444 7.06452816374 105% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 10.0 4.19205298013 239% => Less language errors wanted.
Sentences with positive sentiment : 9.0 4.33554083885 208% => Less positive sentences wanted.
Sentences with negative sentiment : 2.0 4.45695364238 45% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 7.0 4.27373068433 164% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.239509223782 0.272083759551 88% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0838573455295 0.0996497079465 84% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0637984320666 0.0662205650399 96% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.155560850047 0.162205337803 96% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0147544170446 0.0443174109184 33% => Paragraphs are similar to each other. Some content may get duplicated or it is not exactly right on the topic.
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 10.7 13.3589403974 80% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 62.68 53.8541721854 116% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 8.7 11.0289183223 79% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 11.19 12.2367328918 91% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.75 8.42419426049 92% => OK
difficult_words: 65.0 63.6247240618 102% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 7.5 10.7273730684 70% => OK
gunning_fog: 8.8 10.498013245 84% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 11.2008830022 80% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 68.3333333333 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 20.5 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.