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WHAT does a prehistoric sea monster have in common with a Spitfire?

At first sight there seems little resemblance between the four-flippered
plesiosaur Cryptoclidus and the famous fighter plane. But Robin O鈥橩eefe
at the New York Institute of Technology has been comparing the wing aspect
ratios of Second World War planes with the 鈥渇lipper aspect ratios鈥� of
plesiosaurs.

Aspect ratios are a measure of shape, found by dividing a wing鈥檚 length by
its mean width. The high aspect ratio of the long, narrow wings of a glider or
bomber provides plenty of lift but limits manoeuvrability, whereas the low
aspect ratio of the Spitfire wing gives the plane its legendary agility. A
similarly low flipper aspect ratio made Cryptoclidus a formidably agile
predator, O鈥橩eefe says. Other plesiosaurs, however, were more like the Mustang,
the Hurricane or the B-24 Liberator bomber.

鈥淭he Spitfire analogy attracts attention because you can immediately see what
the predator鈥檚 strategy is,鈥� says Michael LaBarbera, an expert in biomechanics
at the University of Chicago. The 鈥渇ighter plane鈥� plesiosaurs would have used
their speed and agility to chase down other reptiles and large fish, he says,
whereas longer necked 鈥渂omber鈥� types would have cruised more slowly through the
oceans in search of easier prey such as ammonites and small fish. They would
have used their long necks to strike at prey unexpectedly out of the gloom.

鈥淵ou can push the analogy too far though,鈥� O鈥橩eefe cautions. Plesiosaurs
didn鈥檛 have to worry about falling out of the sky if they stopped moving, for
example.