Darren Naish, an outspoken critic of the concept of a modern living pterosaur, has written that “it is also completely inaccurate to imagine pterosaur wings as leathery, given that leather is a very heavy, relatively incompliant material.” It seems that Naish has seriously confused two concepts here: the physical properties of leather and the general outward appearance when compared with the appearance of feathers.
When an eyewitness tries to describe a pterosaur-like flying creature (non-extinct, in spite of Naish’s protestations), why would he or she use the word “leathery?” A creature flying through the air gives no opportunity for any eyewitness to examine the covering, dissecting the skin and measuring the thickness to compare it with leather; neither does that flying creature land next to the eyewitness, offering its body to be flexed for comparison with the skin-flexibility of a cow. The eyewitness who sees a living pterosaur at close enough range would notice a skin that was very unlike feathers, so “leathery” would be a good general description, in that context. This simple concept seems to have escaped Naish.
“Leathery” in Live Pterosaurs in America
In the second edition of my book about apparent-pterosaur sightings in the United States (the third edition is coming soon), on page thirty-four, I mentioned a sighting in Texas, between Pasadena and Houston. Ken Gerhard was the interviewer.
RG and his friend, in the late afternoon of a clear day, were startled by a flying creature less than 150 feet away. For about fifteen seconds, they watched it fly, about fifty feet high, before it disappeared into some trees. The general appearance was “leathery” and it had a pointed beak and head appendage. The total length, about five feet, included about two feet of tail, the end of which had a “flange or sail.”
Also on page thirty-four, an eyewitness described a flying creature seen in Texas.
“I saw a featherless flying animal with a wingspan of about 4 1/2 to 5 feet and a long tail with a diamond type shape at the tip of it. No hair or feathers anywhere, just leathery reptile type skin. I have a well established knowledge of animals, especially reptiles, so I can easily tell what animal something is and what it isn’t.”
Other examples could be given, but they would be in the same context: Eyewitnesses are simply looking for a word that fits the non-feathery appearance of a strange flying creature, and “leathery” is one common word that seems to fit.
Any paleontologist (including Darren Naish) who attempts to use the weight and flexibility of actual leather to discredit a sighting of an apparent pterosaur (when the covering of that flying creature is described as “leathery”) is using faulty reasoning. A scientific examination of leather on a laboratory table is a world apart from an eyewitness description of an apparent pterosaur seen at some distance. In fact, even the two words, “leather” and “leathery,” have two different meanings.