O post não é pra todo mundo, mas para quem gosta dessas coisas, eis um belíssimo exemplo de exploração paleontológica da ecologia de um espécime fóssil:

“Studies of pterosaur ecology have suffered from the dogmatic attitude that pterosaurs were predominately aerial piscivores living in coastal settings, in spite of steady accretion of evidence that they occupied a variety of ecological roles in a suite of environments. The unusual anatomy of azhdarchids strongly indicates that they had a unique ecology and inhabited unusual environments compared to many other pterosaurs: these details have been overlooked by most authors who have interpreted azhdarchids as marine piscivores occupying niches conventionally considered typical of pterosaurs as a whole. This unusual lifestyle may explain the resilience of azhdarchids to decline in contrast to other Cretaceous pterosaur lineages, few or none of which persisted to the late Maastrichtian as did azhdarchids. It is hoped that this rerevaluation of azhdarchid ecology will inspire much-needed descriptions of azhdarchid material, empirical testing of the hypotheses presented here, and further research into the lifestyles of pterosaurs beyond their flight capability.“

Só fico pensando no tempo que um bicho desses ia levar pra decolar…