Mankind versus Pterosaurs

Old Testament God zilla will eat them all.

I'm baaaaaaack

Geez. I guess if Pterosaurs somehow manage to survive a history of mankind hunting them, stealing their habitats/prey and serving them in fried pterosaur sandwiches, we can always fall back to suing them.

They never travel alone.

As a pterosaur fan, I'd like to point out that hunting pterosaurs for food would probably not be a good idea (I know I'm late to this part, but I've always wanted to mention my opinion on this). Pterosaurs didn't have a lot of meat on their bones, at least not in the areas we'd be expected to eat (i.e., the wings, legs, etc.) because they had to be lean enough to fly.

So do birds yet we can get a fair amount of food from them. Ducks and geese for example give a fair amount of meat.

Who watches the watchmen?

Yes, but pterosaurs will tear you a new asshole.

So will geese, though.

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

Humans are clever enough to figure out a way to hunt pretty much any animal. Pterosaurs are no exception.

Who watches the watchmen?

We'd probably come up with atlatls and/or bows earlier than we did. Or we'd go for them where they're most vulnerable, the nest.

"What's for breakfast Mom?"

"Scrambled pterosaur eggs."

"Mmmmm."

Trump delenda est

That was my line of thinking as well. Projectiles for hunting were a fairly early innovation for hunter gathers due to that advantages they offered.

Even ancient humans figured out how to hunt the most dangerous of animals of their time.

More or less on topic there is a game called The Stomping Grounds that pits hunter gathers against dinosaurs in survival style type game. I am not entirely sure but I believe they have flying dinosaurs in there somewhere.

edited 15th Jun '13 1:16:19 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Who watches the watchmen?

Humans, even early humans, are incredibly clever compared to most of the animal kingdom. They can design tailor-made traps and weapons to take down any species of animal. Other animals need a few generations to develop a defence against predators, humans only need some preptime and materials.

Also, aren't Pterosaurs afraid of fire?

Most animals are. <shrugs> We kind of had to learn not to be terrified of the thing just to use it. <_<

It does appear nearly all land animals have an instinctual fear of fire.

Humans developed a number of projectile type hunting weapons for their location. Everything from slings, rounded throwing stones, bolas, Atlatl, woomera, and the bow.

As for hunting Pterosaurs. Humans would find a way to lure them in or get to where they rest and spring a trap or ambush. Much like we did with other dangerous game.

Who watches the watchmen?

A domesticated pterosaur would be fucking amazing. Scientists, work on resurrecting long-extinct creatures for our amusement! :D

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I just read the original article, and this was my favorite part:

"Other, more familiar birds are also keen rubbish raiders: I’m sure we’ve all seen local crows and gulls riffling through bins or splitting open refuse sacs. I see no reason why azhdarchids would not develop the same behaviours, so we may find some of them colonising urban areas and living off our waste."

Later on it talks about the possibility of urban adaptation, like Cessna-sized pigeons. Could make picnics in the park a much more interesting experience. These things had big heads, so likely they were pretty smart. I see no reason why they couldn't be domesticated, like hawks.

On the other hand, big as they are, scary as they are, they arent anything a guy with a 20 foot spear couldn't handle. Unless, of course, they attack in swarms. Like Hitchcock's "The Birds", except, you know, Pterosaurs.

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."

I think the one and only real difference is people be more aware of making places inaccessible from the air.

Playgrounds and live stockpen would be covered.

hashtagsarestupid

Now, what WOULD be interesting to see is whether pterosaurs could survive if they suddenly appeared in modern times, disregarding the oxygen content thing. I'm pretty sure a 40mm Bofors would make short work of them.

Direct all enquiries to Jamie B Good

I'm wondering if they would be big and strong enough to ride, because that would be totally cool.

edited 16th Jun '13 6:00:27 AM by tricksterson

Trump delenda est

Azhdarchids might. Although you'd probably only be able to ride them on the ground.

Almost certainly not, unless you're a baby. The mass estimates for even the largest azhdarchids are only a few times the mass of an adult human, and even then, it is suspected that large pterosaurs relied almost entirely on gliding rather than powered flight.

Join my forum game!

Just attach a dozen of them to a sled...

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."

Pterosanta?

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

"Prance away all!" (whip snap)

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."

You sir, win 10,000 internetz!

@Meklar: The current estimates for the heaviest pteros are appearently somewhere between 270 kg (ostrich sized) and 500 kg, so it's more than enough to support our weight.

Also, the whole gliding thing seems discredited, especially when azhdarchids had rather short wings. Other other words, they probably flew like giant fowl, flapping their wings fast.

edited 29th Jun '13 5:34:19 PM by peryton