HOME | DD

Description

Perhaps the biggest flying animal known to have existed, the discovery of Quetzalcoatlus shattered the misconception that nothing larger than the previous record holder, Pteranodon, would be able to take off under Earth’s gravity. Many scientists doubted that this animal could fly at all, or relied on extremely undersized mass estimates to keep their models aloft. More recent work by pterosaur specialists shows that giant azhdarchids were both muscular animals and capable fliers, although their ability to soar effortlessly for long distances is disputed.

The giant Quetzalcoatlus northropi has gone through multiple different interpretations of its ecology in the 50 years since its discovery, from giant vulture-like soarer to surface-skimming fisher and finally to terrestrial stork-like stalker, as is the currently accepted lifestyle. The congeneric Q. lawsoni, from separate layers of the Javelina formation, probably behaved in a similar way, though at a smaller scale. Much less is known about the exact proportions of Q.northropi; although the relatively complete wing of the holotype allows us to safely place its wingspan at 10-12 m, it may not have had the same extremely long neck and gracile skull as Q.lawsoni, which this reconstruction is based on.

References:
-Cai, Z. & Wei, F. (1994). "On a new pterosaur (Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis gen. et sp. nov.) from Upper Cretaceous in Linhai, Zhejiang, China" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 32: 181–194.
-Kellner, W.A.; Langston, W. Jr. (1996). Cranial remains of Quetzalcoatlus (Pterosauria, Azhdarchidae) from Late Cretaceous sediments of Big Bend National Park, Texas. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (2).
-Wu, W.-H.; Zhou, C.-F.; Andres, B. (2017). "The toothless pterosaur Jidapterus edentus (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota and its paleoecological implications". PLOS ONE. 12 (9): e0185486
-Romain Vullo; Géraldine Garcia; Pascal Godefroit; Aude Cincotta; Xavier Valentin (2018). "Mistralazhdarcho maggii, gen. et sp. nov., a new azhdarchid pterosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of southeastern France". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 38 (4): (1)-(16). doi: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1502670.
Hone, D.; Habib, M.; Therrien, F. (September 2019). "Cryodrakon boreas, gen. et sp. nov., a Late Cretaceous Canadian azhdarchid pterosaur". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 39 (3): e1649681. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2019.1649681.
-Andres, B.; Langston, W. Jr. (2021). "Morphology and taxonomy of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (sup1): 142. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2021.1907587.
-Padian, K.; Cunningham, J.R.; Langston, W. Jr.; Conway, J. (2021). "Functional morphology of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (sup1): 218–251. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2020.1780247.
-Ortiz David, Leonardo D.; González Riga, Bernardo J.; Kellner, Alexander W. A. (12 April 2022). "Thanatosdrakon amaru, gen. ET SP. NOV., a giant azhdarchid pterosaur from the upper Cretaceous of Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 135: 105228. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105228.
-Goto, Yusuke; Yoda, Ken; Weimerskirch, Henri; Sato, Katsufumi (May 2, 2022). "How did extinct giant birds and pterosaurs fly? A comprehensive modeling approach to evaluate soaring performance". PNAS Nexus. 1 (1): pgac023. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac023.
-Zhou CF, Niu T, Yu D. 2022. New data on the postcranial skeleton of the tapejarid Sinopterus fromthe Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. Historical Biology 1–8DOI 10.1080/08912963.2022.2042811.

Description

Perhaps the biggest flying animal known to have existed, the discovery of Quetzalcoatlus shattered the misconception that nothing larger than the previous record holder, Pteranodon, would be able to take off under Earth’s gravity. Many scientists doubted that this animal could fly at all, or relied on extremely undersized mass estimates to keep their models aloft. More recent work by pterosaur specialists shows that giant azhdarchids were both muscular animals and capable fliers, although their ability to soar effortlessly for long distances is disputed.

The giant Quetzalcoatlus northropi has gone through multiple different interpretations of its ecology in the 50 years since its discovery, from giant vulture-like soarer to surface-skimming fisher and finally to terrestrial stork-like stalker, as is the currently accepted lifestyle. The congeneric Q. lawsoni, from separate layers of the Javelina formation, probably behaved in a similar way, though at a smaller scale. Much less is known about the exact proportions of Q.northropi; although the relatively complete wing of the holotype allows us to safely place its wingspan at 10-12 m, it may not have had the same extremely long neck and gracile skull as Q.lawsoni, which this reconstruction is based on.

References:
-Cai, Z. & Wei, F. (1994). "On a new pterosaur (Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis gen. et sp. nov.) from Upper Cretaceous in Linhai, Zhejiang, China" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 32: 181–194.
-Kellner, W.A.; Langston, W. Jr. (1996). Cranial remains of Quetzalcoatlus (Pterosauria, Azhdarchidae) from Late Cretaceous sediments of Big Bend National Park, Texas. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (2).
-Wu, W.-H.; Zhou, C.-F.; Andres, B. (2017). "The toothless pterosaur Jidapterus edentus (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota and its paleoecological implications". PLOS ONE. 12 (9): e0185486
-Romain Vullo; Géraldine Garcia; Pascal Godefroit; Aude Cincotta; Xavier Valentin (2018). "Mistralazhdarcho maggii, gen. et sp. nov., a new azhdarchid pterosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of southeastern France". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 38 (4): (1)-(16). doi: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1502670.
Hone, D.; Habib, M.; Therrien, F. (September 2019). "Cryodrakon boreas, gen. et sp. nov., a Late Cretaceous Canadian azhdarchid pterosaur". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 39 (3): e1649681. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2019.1649681.
-Andres, B.; Langston, W. Jr. (2021). "Morphology and taxonomy of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (sup1): 142. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2021.1907587.
-Padian, K.; Cunningham, J.R.; Langston, W. Jr.; Conway, J. (2021). "Functional morphology of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (sup1): 218–251. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2020.1780247.
-Ortiz David, Leonardo D.; González Riga, Bernardo J.; Kellner, Alexander W. A. (12 April 2022). "Thanatosdrakon amaru, gen. ET SP. NOV., a giant azhdarchid pterosaur from the upper Cretaceous of Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 135: 105228. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105228.
-Goto, Yusuke; Yoda, Ken; Weimerskirch, Henri; Sato, Katsufumi (May 2, 2022). "How did extinct giant birds and pterosaurs fly? A comprehensive modeling approach to evaluate soaring performance". PNAS Nexus. 1 (1): pgac023. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac023.
-Zhou CF, Niu T, Yu D. 2022. New data on the postcranial skeleton of the tapejarid Sinopterus fromthe Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. Historical Biology 1–8DOI 10.1080/08912963.2022.2042811.