THE AGE OF PTEROSAURS

There was nothing modest about the beast named Quetzalcoatlus. This winged creature--the largest flying machine nature ever constructed--was the size of a small airplane. It was nearly 20 ft. long; its wings stretched 40 ft. across; and it boasted a toothless, 6-ft.-long beak that tapered to the width of chopsticks. What on earth, scientists have long wondered, did such a big animal eat?

That was one of the questions researchers tried to answer last week at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in New York City, which featured a symposium focusing on the ancient winged creatures known collectively...