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On the left is an ancient Native American petroglypth, possibly Hopi. In the center, is an excerpt from a drawing from a 17th century German tract about the dangers of witches and witchcraft.On the far right is another Native American petroglypth from the Fremont culture who are thought to have produced this Black Dragon between 700 and 1250 A.D.

What's clear from all three of these eyewitness pterosaur sightings is that pterosaurs often rode the wind, wings spread like a kite, using their long tails to balance. This posture explains the characteristic poses of all three of these pieces of art. Conversely, modern drawings of the pterosaur virtually never present them assuming this posture.

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This piece is in the Lowe Museum in Miami. The piece is described as; Anasazi (Southwest, United States),Pronghorn Antelope Effigy Vessel, 1000-1200 A.D.

Here at s8int.com, we were inclined to go along with that description, but did note a resemblance to some of the duck billed hadrosaurs, like Lambeosaurus--due in large part to the similarity of the "horns" to the headcrests on many of these dinosaur types.

What really caught our attention is the Museum's own description reproduced word for word here:

"In the Southwest during a period from approximately 1000 to 1200, there was considerable cultural intermingling among the Anasazi, the Hohokam, and the Mogollon and associated Tularosa and Mimbres peoples, and this is clearly evident in their art.

This effigy vessel is decorated with black-on-white geometric painting in the style of the Tularosa and the Mimbres. It is formed in the shape of a pronghorn antelope, a popular subject selected for ceramic effigy figures and pottery decoration.

The pair of horns in this example have been carefully modeled as have other attributes of the animal, such as the eyes, the tail, and the simplified legs. Even though the animal is recognizable as a pronghorn, it has avian attributes, notably a beak.

The Hadrosaurs had beaks, as well; hence the term "duckbilled". A lambeosaurus and a pair of pronghorns are reproduced below. Is this stylized piece a representation of a pronghorn antelope? Is it meant to represent a supposedly long extinct dinosaur; is it a really bad buffalo? We don't know, but we're pretty sure that the person who wrote the description never considered that the lambeosaurus might have helped with the confusion concerning the avian characteristics.

Also, lambeosaurus was three toed--as is the animal pictured--while the pronghorn is---two-toed.

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