Pterosaurs were an ancient group of winged reptiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs. Many pterosaurs were very large, some as large as a giraffe and with a wingspan of over 12 meters. Paleontologists have long wondered whether large pterosaurs were capable of powered flight (flying by flapping their wings) or whether they were able only to glide. Several arguments have been made against powered flight.
Doubters point out that since modern reptiles are cold-blooded, ancient reptiles such as pterosaurs were probably cold-blooded as well. Cold-blooded animals typically have a slow metabolism and are unable to produce a lot of energy. Powered flight is an activity requiring a lot of energy, which is why all modern vertebrates that fly are warm-blooded, not cold-blooded. It seemed unlikely that pterosaurs would have been able to generate the energy needed to fly.
Second, there is a limit to the weight of animals that can be kept airborne by powered flight. Pterosaurs that were as large as a giraffe were probably so heavy that they would not have been able to flap their wings fast enough to stay aloft for any length of time.
Third, all animals with powered flight are able to take off from the ground. For example, birds take off by jumping from their legs or running to gain speed and then jumping. But these methods would not have worked for large pterosaurs. Large pterosaurs would have needed big, powerful muscles in their back legs to launch themselves into the air, and we know from fossilized bones that their back leg muscles were too small and weak to allow the pterosaurs to run fast enough or jump high enough to launch themselves into the air.
The reading passage and the lecture are both related to the controversy of the winged reptiles, Pterosaurs. While the author of the reading suggests that pterosaurs were not capable of powered flight, the lecturer, on the other hand, holds the opposite idea.
As the author points out that ancient reptiles like pterosaurs are cold-blooded, which would not have the ability to obtain enough energy for powered flight, the lecturer refutes it with the latest study. It is said that recently some fossils have indicated that the pterosaurs are covered with a dense layer of hair, which could help to maintain warmth in most warm-blooded animals. Thus, the lecturer believes that the kind of metabolism would enable the pterosaurs to gain the energy needed for flight.
Next, though the author claims that they would be confined to the ground since they are too large and too heavy, the lecturer doesn't think so. While the pterosaurs may have large frame, they are unusually light-weighted because of their hollow bones. Thus, they would not have limited to their weight to flap wings.
Moreover, the lecturer further points out that there are differences between a two-legged bird and a four-legged reptile. Although the author contends that they could not take off due to their weak back legs, the lecturer considers it still possible since they could take off using four legs. For example, bats use four legs to push off the ground and fly. So, the pterosaurs should have no problems flying as they could use all of their legs to launch off.
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 5, column 127, Rule ID: EN_CONTRACTION_SPELLING
Message: Possible spelling mistake found
Suggestion: doesn't
...e too large and too heavy, the lecturer doesnt think so. While the pterosaurs may have...
^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
if, may, moreover, so, still, thus, while, for example, kind of, on the other hand
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 9.0 10.4613686534 86% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 10.0 5.04856512141 198% => OK
Conjunction : 4.0 7.30242825607 55% => More conjunction wanted.
Relative clauses : 10.0 12.0772626932 83% => OK
Pronoun: 22.0 22.412803532 98% => OK
Preposition: 32.0 30.3222958057 106% => OK
Nominalization: 0.0 5.01324503311 0% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1292.0 1373.03311258 94% => OK
No of words: 259.0 270.72406181 96% => OK
Chars per words: 4.98841698842 5.08290768461 98% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.01166760082 4.04702891845 99% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.39217778853 2.5805825403 93% => OK
Unique words: 142.0 145.348785872 98% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.548262548263 0.540411800872 101% => OK
syllable_count: 376.2 419.366225166 90% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.55342163355 97% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 3.0 3.25607064018 92% => OK
Article: 8.0 8.23620309051 97% => OK
Subordination: 5.0 1.25165562914 399% => Less adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 0.0 1.51434878587 0% => OK
Preposition: 1.0 2.5761589404 39% => More preposition wanted as sentence beginning.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 12.0 13.0662251656 92% => OK
Sentence length: 21.0 21.2450331126 99% => OK
Sentence length SD: 41.6315685508 49.2860985944 84% => OK
Chars per sentence: 107.666666667 110.228320801 98% => OK
Words per sentence: 21.5833333333 21.698381199 99% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.83333333333 7.06452816374 97% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 1.0 4.19205298013 24% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 5.0 4.33554083885 115% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 2.0 4.45695364238 45% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 5.0 4.27373068433 117% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.171088180892 0.272083759551 63% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0641614364444 0.0996497079465 64% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0551967994499 0.0662205650399 83% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.104262367283 0.162205337803 64% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0458968370564 0.0443174109184 104% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 12.9 13.3589403974 97% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 58.62 53.8541721854 109% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.3 11.0289183223 93% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 11.66 12.2367328918 95% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.91 8.42419426049 94% => OK
difficult_words: 53.0 63.6247240618 83% => More difficult words wanted.
linsear_write_formula: 13.5 10.7273730684 126% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.4 10.498013245 99% => OK
text_standard: 10.0 11.2008830022 89% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 80.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 24.0 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.