Pterosaur Research:Recent Advances and a Future Revolution

作     者：David W.E.HONE 

作者机构：Department of Earth SciencesUniversity of Bristol School of Biological and Chemical SciencesQueen Mary University of London 

出 版 物：《Acta Geologica Sinica(English Edition)》 (地质学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2012年第86卷第6期

页      面：1366-1376页

核心收录：

学科分类：070903[理学-古生物学与地层学(含：古人类学)] 0709[理学-地质学] 07[理学] 

主　　题：paleontology Pterosauria science history of research academia 

摘      要：In the years since the first description of a pterosaur specimen in 1784, pterosaur research has inevitably advanced considerably. However the last decade has arguably seen a much greater increase in our knowledge than the preceding two centuries. Since the turn of the new millennium, more than 40 new pterosaur genera and species have been described and whole new clades have been discovered, in addition to much new data being developed on pterosaur anatomy, functional morphology, palaeobiology, systematics, ecology and more. We are perhaps at the start of a golden age of pterosaur research and much as the dinosaurs underwent a revolution in the 1970s through to the early 1990s, now the Pterosauria are taking their turn. There is also a new and wider interest in pterosaur work as it attracts both more researchers and greater public interest. Pterosaurs appear to be an increasingly popular aspect of paleontology in popular culture and of interest to the media, both mainstream and digital.