Vol.58 First Sky! Is that a bird far off? Or a plane? No, it's a Pteranodon!
Immediately after uploading the previous article, news broke that excited a small number of pterosaur fans. The source was Mr. U, a hardcore member of the Dinosaur Club who avidly reads overseas papers. He passionately explained that a new paper on the origin of pterosaurs had been published in the scientific journal "Nature." It seems that lagerpetids, which are closely related to dinosaurs (classified in the same Dinosauromorpha), are actually the ancestors of pterosaurs. Until now, pterosaurs were considered a separate lineage from Dinosauromorpha. You can see this at a glance by looking at the "Phylogenetic definition" here.
*There was also Japanese news about it.
In other words, pterosaurs have been "upgraded" to animals more closely related to dinosaurs (though this is from the perspective of a dinosaur supremacist). In these dark times, it's a celebratory topic for the new year. In anticipation of pterosaurs soaring to new heights this year (I'm not even sure what I'm saying anymore), here's another pterosaur special, following the last one.
●Pterosaur Movies
Pterosaurs have appeared in many dinosaur movies, adding to their appeal. Going way back to the 1925 silent film "The Lost World." Doyle's original story features Pterodactyls that build huge nesting sites in swamps, attack in flocks, and perform major roles like flying over London, but unfortunately, all of this was cut from the film. However, there is a very impressive appearance by a Pteranodon instead. Please see here, a valuable fan site. The Pteranodon appears at the beginning.
Actually, while searching online for footage of the Pteranodon from "The Lost World," I stumbled upon an unexpected gem. I had no idea, but there's an even older silent dinosaur film from 1920, predating "The Lost World."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQcJFEgNZm8
I also found an overly detailed commentary page for this film by a special effects enthusiast.
http://blog.koyama.mond.jp/?eid=873756
Around 8 minutes in, a dragon-like pterosaur appears, followed by a Stegosaurus, Trachodon, and Tyrannosaurus from around 9 minutes 45 seconds, making for quite a spectacle.
In "King Kong" (1933), a Pteranodon attempts to capture and fly away with the heroine. It gets thoroughly thrashed by the awakened King Kong, but after this, pterosaurs (mainly Pteranodons) carrying people became a common trope, and up until the recent Jurassic World, they have claimed many victims, with the exception of heroines who are always miraculously saved at the last minute. Let's introduce some of those memorable scenes.
(Image 1) Ann Darrow in "King Kong" (1933). She is saved by Kong at the last minute.
(Image 2) The dazzling Raquel Welch in "One Million Years B.C." (1966) is almost eaten by chicks, but is saved by a battle between pterosaurs.
(Image 3) "The Valley of Gwangi" (1969). The weakest Pteranodon in film history. It can barely lift a child and has its neck broken by the protagonist.
(Image 4) In "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec" (2010), the pterodactyl (as it's called) plays a major role, tamed by the beautiful protagonist Adèle, and helps rescue an innocent death row inmate.
(Image 5) Other movie scenes featuring pterosaurs
The top row shows the magnificent Pteranodon from Karel Zeman's masterpiece "Journey to the Beginning of Time" (1955) and a rare Soviet Venusian pterosaur. This one is from "Planet of Storms" (1961), where even Brontosauruses appear on Venus. This pterosaur also appeared in the American film "Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet," which was a re-edited version of this Soviet film.
The middle row features Pterodactyls from "The Land That Time Forgot" (1974) and "The People That Time Forgot" (1977). The pterosaur engulfed in flames in the center is likely a Dimorphodon, glimpsed in silhouette during the volcanic eruption scene at the end of "The Land That Time Forgot." The dinosaurs in these two films move poorly, and the pterosaurs don't even flap their wings. What a shame, given the excellent quality of the submarine and seaplane miniatures!
*These two films are part of the Amicus Productions' Burroughs trilogy. The third film, "At the Earth's Core" (1977), the only film adaptation of the Pellucidar series, unfortunately turned into a disastrous suit-actor film. Alas, the evolved pterosaur Mahars reduced to such a state...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1PPeUO5pCY
The bottom row is Japanese content. First, from "Rodan" (1956), the memorable and silly "It's a perfect fit!" scene. Regardless of whether Rodan is a pterosaur, a picture of a Pteranodon is prominently displayed. In fact, on the shelf in that room, skeletal models of Monoclonius and Dimetrodon are displayed. Try to find them.
*Wikipedia for "Rodan" states that in the script, Pteranodon is "a type of flying dragon that lived in the Mesozoic era, the largest of the flying Archaeopteryx." However, none of this setting is accurate.
Next is the Pteranodon from the TV series "Bonekickers" (1976), which, for some reason, walks on two legs. This show, special effects aside, treats dinosaurs quite faithfully.
Next to it is the Rhamphorhynchus from "Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds." While it looks quite cool in this shot, the movie itself received terrible reviews.
https://filmarks.com/movies/38719
https://filmarks.com/movies/38719/spoiler
"Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds" was a bloody panic movie made to capitalize on "Jaws," but what exacerbates this are the silly dinosaur movies churned out in recent years, often featuring pterosaurs as protagonists, thanks to the widespread use of CGI. Enjoy the trailers and reviews from B-movie enthusiasts.
"Pterodactyl" (2005)
This movie is simply about foolish people being killed by Pteranodons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jGJkRyk0F4
https://filmarks.com/movies/51141
https://kansomagai.com/pterodactyl-2020-0129/
"Pterodactyl vs. Zero Fighter vs. Pterosaur Army" (2008)
The situation where American and Japanese soldiers cooperate on a monster-infested island during the Pacific War also appeared in "Kong: Skull Island," but this one came first. Not that it's a work to boast about, though...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1qVI3HpmPo
https://ameblo.jp/amanohokuto/entry-11536300894.html
http://www.wound-treatment.jp/next/eiga/619.htm
"Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda" (2015)
This is just unfair. If there was even a glimpse of the Pteranodon that provided the genes for the Pteracuda, it would have been acceptable as a pterosaur movie... However, the internet is full of praise from B-movie enthusiasts. Well, with this title and video package art, proper dinosaur fans probably wouldn't touch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjd6Q7MVqUw
https://filmarks.com/movies/60801/spoiler
https://ameblo.jp/makomako-63/entry-12087855951.html
"Jurassic Reborn" (2016)
This one is also full of plot holes, and it seems to be highly rated by B-movie enthusiasts.
https://ameblo.jp/8haku5inukyuu/entry-12235566112.html
https://filmarks.com/movies/71655
Speaking of B-grade bloody movies, here's another one. Although it's not a pterosaur, so it doesn't have the "s" at the end, "Q" (1982), where "Quetzalcoatl" rampages through Manhattan, is a stop-motion era film that I quite like. While there are Aztec-descendant worshippers who revere Quetzalcoatl and perform bloody rituals, Quetzalcoatl itself lacks divine power. It attacks people from above to feed, quietly raises its young in the attics of skyscrapers, and finally dies from a volley of machine gun fire from the police. Is it an homage to King Kong when it clings to a building, lets out a death shriek, and falls?
It's a memorable scene.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A9%BA%E3%81%AE%E5%A4%A7%E6%80%AA%E7%8D%A3Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIdv_J6DOhs
While I'm at it, let me introduce another favorite dragon: Vermithrax from "Dragonslayer" (1981). I thought this movie might be hard to watch since there's no domestic DVD release (I have a laserdisc!), but it's available for streaming on TSUTAYA.
https://tsutaya.tsite.jp/item/movie/PTA0000832UR
The sense of weightlessness when the dragon floats on the wind high above is superb. At this point, I might as well show off the scene diorama figure I impulsively bought from Pegasus Hobby, which recreates that famous scene. (Image 6)
Returning to pterosaur movies. While pterosaurs might not be best as protagonists, they excel as impressive supporting characters. In recent years, for example, there's the Pteranodon flying with an egg at the beginning of Disney's "Dinosaur," and the three azhdarchid pterosaurs that played a good role as a framing device in "Walking with Dinosaurs." Of course, we can't forget the toothed Pteranodon kept in the giant cage in JP3, or the Dimorphodons that attack visitors en masse in JW.
Pterosaur flight scenes can be seen not only in movies but also in dinosaur documentaries from the BBC and Nat Geo, but please also check here. This is the page of Mr. Kazuhiko Tsunoda, who creates flapping, flying creatures like pterosaurs using radio control. It's amazing.
Let me also introduce some books related to pterosaurs. (Image 7)
"Encyclopedia of Animals [Supplemental Volume 2] Pterosaurs" (Heibonsha 1993) is an essential book for pterosaur fans, packed with explanations, fossil photos, and illustrations of pterosaurs across 215 A4-sized pages. However, it does not include pterosaurs discovered after Quetzalcoatlus. A revised edition would be desirable.
"The Mystery of the Pterosaur" (Ryuichi Kaneko, Futami Shobo 1995) has been featured in New Treasure Museum Vol.14 and Vol.51, but I'll introduce it again. As the subtitle "The Age of Pterosaurs, Plesiosaurs, and Ichthyosaurs" suggests, about a third of the book is dedicated to pterosaurs, where Kaneko-san's deeply insightful commentary explodes. And above all, I always want to brag about having the original cover art in my home.
To its right is the catalog from the "World's Largest Pterosaur Exhibition" held at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in 2008. It was a very rich exhibition, featuring the first public display of a complete Quetzalcoatlus skeleton and many new Chinese pterosaurs. Lined up next to it are an original Quetzalcoatlus figure and a paper craft that were sold at the venue.
(Image 8) is a gallery of covers mainly depicting pterosaurs. There are 5 Lost World books and 10 Burroughs books, including Pellucidar. The pterosaur in "Stoneheart" is a real gargoyle guarding the British Museum of Natural History (Treasure Museum Vol.40). "Mars" is a collection of poems written by the poet Kei Nakayama in Taisho 13 (1924), which features a poem called "King of Constellations" with dinosaurs on the theme of Earth's history, but no Rhamphorhynchus appears.
Besides these, there are countless other books with pterosaurs in the background of their covers. Pterosaurs are essential for Mesozoic landscapes.
Now, as I spend more time at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, I naturally spend more time browsing the internet. When I find interesting dinosaur goods at a shop, even if they're a bit expensive, I end up buying them, making excuses like "If I don't buy it now, I'll regret it if I fall ill with corona." I'd like to show you some of my recent impulse purchases that I'm particularly fond of. (Image 9)
Why now!?... This is a Star Ace Toys figure recreating the famous showdown between the Allosaurus and protagonist Tumak from "One Million Years B.C." It stands about 30cm tall. It cost about 20,000 yen, but it's so incredibly well-made that I can't help but grin every time I look at it. I'd love to get the Raquel Welch figure too, but it's paired with a Triceratops of a different scale, which is something to consider. If I got the Triceratops, I'd then feel compelled to get its partner, the Ceratosaurus... Both are apparently sold out now, so even if I found them, they'd be expensive enough as it is, and then there would be a premium on top of that...
https://jp.ric-toy.com/413-satd12.html
https://www.1999.co.jp/10748943
The Beasts of Mesozoic series is something I'd been interested in on American websites for a while, so when I found it on Amazon, I had no choice but to buy it immediately. These are action figures just under 30cm tall, and while they have many points of articulation, their range of motion is somewhat inferior compared to Kaiyodo's Revoltech T-REX. Still, the sculpt is good, and they're fun to play with. There seem to be over 10 types of raptors, but it appears their body parts are shared. Since they're parallel imports and cost over 10,000 yen each, I gave up on collecting them all. The one I brought home is a Pyroraptor, a minor dromaeosaurid discovered in France.
The T-Rex skull was one of the few dinosaur items I found at the Mineral Show late last year, which was otherwise disappointing in terms of fossils. It's 1/8 scale, about the same size as the Favorite brand skull. I already have other skull models of similar size, such as Stan, Sue, and garage kits, so I initially hesitated to buy it. However, after reading the description, it turned out to be a 3D printed model created by scanning an actual fossil specimen, UWBM99000, from the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, which has been given the affectionate nickname "Tafts-Love Rex" after its discoverers. So, after much deliberation, I decided to take the plunge and bought it for about 30,000 yen. When I got home and searched online for "Tafts-Love Rex," I discovered it was the latest T-Rex found in Montana in 2016, currently being cleaned, and I even found photos of its surprisingly complete skull. Realizing the value of this scaled-down replica, I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that my purchase was the right one.
Quietly sitting next to it is a set of three gashapon figures I acquired just two or three days ago, costing 300 yen each: a sea scorpion, Dunkleosteus, and Archelon from "Ancient Ocean: World of Beginnings" (the ammonite comes with the Archelon). The proportions are decent, they're reasonably large, and the movable parts aren't too unnatural, so 300 yen is a fair price. But more than that, I'm thrilled that I completed the set in three tries without any duplicates! It's even better than drawing a great fortune slip – "What a good omen for the new year!"
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