February 11, 2015

  • Quetzalcoatlus

    The last time we had a mass extinction, quetzalcoatlus died along with the dinosaurs.  Everyone glorifies tyrannosaurus rex, but no-one dignifies the flying reptile with the terror and majesty he deserves.  Quetzalcoatlus was really freaking huge.
    Hatzegopteryx
    Pterosaurs existed from about 225 to 65 million years ago, that is, for 160 million years.  They lived worldwide in all environments, and in wingspan ranged from 50 cm to 13 meters (39 feet).  Quetzalcoatlus weighed over 250 kg (550 lb), making him the biggest flying animal of all time.  His wingspan was greater than that of a fighter jet.

    f16-fighter
    quetzalcoatlus-1

    Quetzalcoatlus is named for the Aztec winged serpent god.  In the air, they were adept fliers, and not clumsy gliders as once thought.  The shapes of their skulls tell us their brains are in some ways similar to other active fliers -- birds and bats.  Their wings were complex structures with many specialised layers of tissue that would have allowed them to perform well in the air.

    Bigger than quetzalcoatlus?
    While working in Mexico, paleontologist Eberhard Frey of the Natural History Museum in Karlsruhe, Germany, discovered the footprints of a pterosaur with a wingspan of at least 59 feet.  Frey's colleague David Martill, of the University of Portsmouth in England, unveiled the find at the British Association for the Advancement of Science this year.  The footprints, combined with new fossil finds and a study of older samples, present a new picture of the winged giants.  The creature possibly jumped to get airborne, Martill said, noting that its pelvis was constructed much like a frog's.

    It is not clear whether these new giants represent a new species in the pterosaur family.  But it is agreed that when pterosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago, they left no descendants.

    Which is unfortunate.  I sure wish I had a pet quetzalcoatlus.  Don't you?

Comments (4)

  • Cool post. I'm fascinated by prehistoric creatures. Not only by the animals themselves, but by the whole time frame that my brain can't wrap itself around. SIXTY MILLION YEARS these things were around. There are some species of dinosaurs that lived 80 millions years ago, and others that lived 80 million years before THAT. Sheesh.

    • I guess we've all skimmed articles about the pterosaurs at one time or other. But it didn't register with me until I heard about the beast on CBC's Quirks and Quarks program. Holy crap, a 39 foot wingspan.

      BTW did you see my blog about the 500-million year-old Cambrian bugs? LINK

  • I think I will put this creature in my next AD&D adventure.

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