Page 66 Daily Mail, Thursday, August 29, 2019
QUESTIONS
HEALTHY, vibrant
starter or side dish.
Serves 2.Terror of the
flying lizard
Compiled by Charles LeggeTODAY’S RECIPE: Warm,
lemony courgette salad
MethodQUESTION
What was the
largest flying
creature in history?
The flying reptile the Pterosaur ‘winged
lizard’ existed from the late Triassic
to the late Cretaceous period, 228 to
66 million years ago. It evolved the power
of flight long before birds came on the
scene 60 million years ago.
Fossil finds show some pterosaurs were
enormous. The largest was Quetzalcoatlus
northropi, a member of the Azhdarchidae,
a family of toothless pterosaurs with
unusually long, stiff necks. Its name
means feathered serpent god.
It lived 68 million years ago and flew on
wings spanning 34ft, supporting a body
weighing 30 to 40 st. Its wingspan was
equivalent to a Cessna light aircraft.
Instead of feathers, Pterosaur wings are
thought to have been membranous, like
bats’ wings.
They stretched from one elongated digit
to their ankle, with reinforcing fibrous
edges to help them fly.
It’s a matter of debate as to how they
flew, but most researchers believe they
employed a slow, soaring flight.
The largest flying bird by wingspan was
Pelagornis sandersi, which lived around
25 million years ago. Its wings measured
up to 24ft from tip to tip and it weighed
between 3 and 6 st.
It was much lighter than Argentavis
magnificens, which lived approximately
six million years ago, weighed 11 to 13 st
and had a 20ft wingspan.
At 11½ ft, the wandering albatross has
the largest wingspan of any flying bird
now in existence.
however, the Andean condor is
considered to be the largest flying bird
as it is twice as heavy. Among these
mountain-dwelling South American
vultures, males can tip the scales at 2 st
and have a 10½ ft wingspan.
Derek Cape, Kimpton, Herts.
QUESTION
Why was the 19th-
century Kingdom
of the Two Sicilies so-called?
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was
formed in 1815 by the unification of the
Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of
Naples. It extended from southern
mainland Italy to the island of Sicily. The
Kingdom of Sardinia annexed it in 1860
to form the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
The name Sicily originates from the
Greek Sikelia. The plural Sikeloi became
Sicilians, the name of an ancient people
living along the Tiber somewhat north
of what became the Kingdom of the
Two Sicilies.
The original Kingdom of Sicily, with its
capital at Palermo, was founded in the
1100s by the Normans and included the
island and all of the southern part of the
mainland up to the Vatican States, just
south of Rome, commonly known as the
Kingdom of Naples.
It passed intact to the house of
hohenstaufen (or Swabia). Following
the death of Frederick II in 1250, the
descendants of his two daughters laid
claim to the inheritance.
Naples and Sicily were in Angevin
hands (a royal house of French origin)
when Charles I lost Sicily in the War of
the Sicilian Vespers.
The island offered its crown to Peter III
of Aragon, husband of Constance, the
hohenstaufen heiress, in 1282.
The Angevins retained control of the
mainland kingdom, but, though their
realm was usually called the Kingdom
of Naples, it derived its right to exist
from the Norman Conquest which was
associated with Sicily. King of Sicily was
part of the official royal title.
In the 1430s, Alfonso the Magnanimous
— the Aragonese ruler of the Island of
Sicily — sought to fill a power vacuum.
After defeating the mainland Angevins,
he established his rule of Naples in 1443.As he had reunited the two kingdoms, he
designated himself rex Utriusque Siciliae
— King of both Sicilies.
The term became an anachronism, as
subsequent Spanish rulers referred to
their Neapolitan vice-realm as Naples.
even the early Bourbon usage preferred
the Kingdom of Naples.
however, in 1815, after the Napoleonic
Wars, the restored King Ferdinand IV
of Naples revived the title and styled
himself as Ferdinand I of the Kingdom
of the Two Sicilies.
Simone Walters, Bath.QUESTION
When the Second
Amendment to
the American Constitution, referring
to the right to bear arms, was ratified
in 1791, what were the most deadly
weapons available?
GuNS at the end of the 18th century
were very different from the semi
and fully automatic weapons that
are so controversial today.
The most common infantry weapon
was the musket, a muzzle-loading,
smoothbore long gun.
It was loaded with a single round lead
ball, and a skilled artilleryman could fire
three shots per minute. Its maximum
accuracy range was 50 to 60 yards.
Compare this with a modern-day
AR-15, which has a magazine capacity of
30 rounds, can fire 45 rounds a minute
and has an accuracy range of 600 yards.
In the 18th century, the most powerful
artillery were three, four or six-pound
cannon, mounted on wooden carriages
with large wheels.
Some three-pound guns had iron legs
and were called ‘grasshoppers’.
By the Napoleonic Wars of the early
1800s, most european armies had
adopted the 12-pounder, while the
nine-pounder was favoured by the(^) British. Such weapons had a range of
more than 1,400 yards.
During the American Revolution, the
British and Americans rarely fielded
anything larger than a six-pounder
because of the difficult terrain.
The versatile three-pounder was the
most deadly: it ranged 800 yards with
solid shot and 200 yards with grapeshot.
At close range, loaded with shot, it could
destroy an entire company.
Keith Thurstone, Ilford, Essex.
: At the end of their song Letter
From America, The Proclaimers
sing: ‘Lochaber no more.’ To what
does this refer?
Emma Gunn, London N12.
: What is the most powerful
road motorcycle?
Willy Thomas, Carlisle, Cumbria.
: Why do so many football stadiums
have a kop stand?
T. Nichols, Basildon, Essex.
Q
Q
Q
Ingredients
2 courgettes
1 tbsp olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon, plus
a squeeze of juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 USE a vegetable peeler to slice the
courgettes into wide strips, discarding the
central, seedy part. Heat the oil in a large
frying pan, add the lemon zest and garlic and
fry over a medium heat for one minute.
2 Add the courgette strips and cook, stirring
regularly, for a further one to two minutes,
until they are slightly softened. Add a squeeze
of lemon juice and toss through the basil.
n RECIPE of the Day brought to you in association
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n IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted
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¼ small pack basil,
roughly torn
Feathered god: The Quetzalcoatlus
Picture: PA