Jurassic World Evolution 2 Jeholopterus
Anfos Sin
DGS solves the mystery of the skull.
First-hand observations of the black, crushed skull of Jeholopterus resulted in a disappointing broad outline offering no possibility of a reconstruction (Figure 1 inset). On the other hand, the DGS (Digital Graphic Segregation) method was successful in segregating the chaotic jumble into separate bones (Figure 1). These could be digitally reconstructed into a skull (Figure 2) in which all the parts had symmetrical counterparts and all the parts fit precisely. DGS also enabled tracing of the tail from beneath various soft tissues. Note the palate bones had slid to the left toward the wrist and digit 1 of the right hand (in orange-red) was dislocated on top of the skull.
The origin and evolution of blood-sucking in anurognathids.
The origin of vampirism in anurognathids was probably not much different than its origin in bats and vampire birds, including tickbirds. Anurognathids are widely considered to have been airborne insect-eaters due to their wide gaps and fragile skulls. Various insects, like flies and their maggots, are attracted to wounds on large mammals and we can presume that dinosaurs also carried bloody wounds at times. Anurognathids would have been attracted to such accumulations of blood-loving insects. Some anurognathids might have been attracted to the blood itself. A few, such as Jeholopterus, apparently skipped all the preliminaries and created its own wounds on dinosaur prey.
Before I noticed Jeholopterus had a pair of long teeth, I noticed the distinctively robust build and surgically curved claws on manus and pes that told me it was hanging on to something big and rambunctious. The two long teeth, in this hypothesis, were simply holdfasts and blood-letters on a wounded and/or festering host. The dentary teeth were short, as short as pliers teeth. In the 2003 hypothesis, once the pterosaur was attached at five points, the mandible would then milk the wound for more blood the tongue could then lap up.
Is it possible for jeholopterus (or whatever the plural form of Jeolopteus is) teeth to look longer due to tooth slippage? (same thing happened to sinornithosaurus) Tooth slippage is what happens to animal teeth due to their gums decomposing it is much harser to identify in archosaurs and sqamates than it is in mammals.
Tooth slippage? Sure. The root exposed. Sure. The two long teeth are only the cherry-on-top of the vampire hypothesis. Keys to the hypothesis are: 1) the long curved claws, like surgical needles for clinging to large hosts; 2) the robust build of the limbs for clinging to large hosts; 3) the feathered wing tips for silencing air flow, as in owls; 4) the large feathery dorsal extradermal membranes, also for a quiet approach, as in owls. 4) an ancestry of insectivory, drawing Jeholopterus to insect-infested wound; 5) the very short dentary teeth, like pliers teeth, that do no pierce the skin.
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