EXTINCT flying reptiles called pterosaurs had a highly developed sense of balance. This skill probably allowed them to keep their gaze centred on their prey during complex aerobatic manoeuvres.
Studying fossil pterosaur skulls is extremely difficult because they are so delicate, but Lawrence Witmer at Ohio University in Athens and his colleagues have used X-ray CT scans to build up 3D images of the brains of two species. One striking finding was that the animals (Rhamphorhynchus muensteri and Anhanguera santanae) had massive flocculi. The flocculus is a brain region that integrates signals from joints, muscles, skin and the balance organs.…
