Dinosaur news has been a little slow over the past few weeks, although there's quite a few articles about the discovery of the world's oldest known dinosaur embryos, which is pretty cool.

BUT! This is freaking AWESOME! Scientists have discovered that some giant pterosaurs (the size of giraffes!) were able to launch themselves into flight by pole-vaulting over their wings:

They said they had disproved claims that enormous prehistoric winged beasts could not fly, with new evidence showing how they managed to get themselves airborne.

They found that the reptiles took off by using the powerful muscles of their legs and arms to push off from the ground, effectively pole-vaulting over their wings.

Once airborne they could fly huge distances and even cross continents, the scientists claim.

Go read the whole article and check out the illustrations showing the pole-vaulting maneuver and size comparison.

(Thanks to Slog-tipper Shena!)