My first ebook is mostly completed: Live Pterosaurs in Australia and in Papua New Guinea. How can I resist giving out some sample paragraphs? And having an interest in reports of apparent living pterosaurs does not make a person a child. Why care about that kind of opinion?

Introduction

Are you a lucky eyewitness who has seen a living pterosaur? . . . well, maybe a cursed eyewitness? This is for you: eyewitness reports of large featherless flying creatures seen over the past few decades in Australia and in Papua New Guinea. You are no longer alone.

Chapter One

The first discovery of a pterosaur fossil by a Western scientist, in 1784, was decades before Charles Darwin began writing about his ideas on extinctions and evolution. Before Darwin, Western scientists had assumed that all species of pterosaurs were extinct for a simple reason: Those who discovered the fossils had no experience with any similar animal that was living.

Also important, probably no scientist at that time had considered that a few species of pterosaurs might still be living, rarely seen because they’re both uncommon and nocturnal.

Chapter Two

Something came tearing through the tall grass, catching the soldiers’ attention: a wild pig, no need to panic . . . but something else became startled: At the far side of the clearing, a creature was running and flapping its wings. All the grass around it was flattened by the blasts of wind from the creature getting airborne. Up over the jungle it flew, out of sight for the moment; but Duane Hodgkinson remained stricken: Extinction itself had just become exterminated—that was no bird.

Chapter Three

Unlike most of my encounters with eyewitnesses, Brian Hennessy did not find me through my web pages: His brother-in-law found me. They were talking about the absence of birds in one area of Papua New Guinea when the subject came up: the flying creature of Bougainville Island.

Chapter Four

With all the challenges in exploring a tropical island, it helps to have a sense of humor.

Do not rush off on an ill-prepared quest in a wilderness; I spent about seven months preparing for my 2004 expedition. Do not underestimate the dangers; it’s not worth losing your life. Ignore my warning if you will: Without preparation, tell your spouse you’re going to Papua New Guinea to search for giant flying dinosaurs . . . you’ll be lucky to get out the front door alive.

Chapter Seven

The pilot answered my later questions by email:

“I saw what I thought was a dark-coloured, single-engine aircraft coming on reciprocal heading at same height. . . . [My co-pilot] was head down, looking at a chart, so didn’t see it at that moment.

“I was flying using autopilot, which – having failed to disengage it – I over-powered manually by diving the aircraft in order to avoid collision. As I did so, the other ‘aircraft’ dived towards us. [The co-pilot], disturbed by the sudden manoeuvre, looked up and saw the creature. [He said] ‘What the *** is that.’

“At that moment, its wings took one enormous, slow, articulated flap. This was no aircraft! I banked left and it went down our starboard side in the opposite direction.”

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Pterodactyl Sighting

Extinction of the Pterodactyl (or not)

Live Pterosaur in Cuba

Resources for Child Care

Child Care Safety

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