{description}Two years ago, Professor Margot Gerritsen, Assistant Professor of Petroleum Engineering and, by courtesy, of Mechanical Engineering, undertook the challenge of creating a functional replica of an ancient giant, fying lizard called the pterosaur for a documentary by National Geographic. The Stanford-National Geographic Pterosaur Replica Project was conducted primarily at Stanford, under Gerritsen’s lead in collaboration with pterosaur fight expert and engineer Jim Cunningham. The project team included scientists, graduate students, engineers, paleontologists and paleoartists. The group’s efforts culminated in “Sky Monsters,” an educational documentary featuring the team’s working pterosaur model. In the process, they gained fascinating insights into the fight mechanisms of one of the world’s frst fying animals. {/description}