Quetzalcoatlus
KETZ-al-co-OUGHT-las
The piscivorous pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus dates back to the Late Cretaceous period and is considered to be one of the largest flying animals the world has ever seen, with a wingspan in excess of 10m – roughly the size of a small aero plane The name Quetzalcoatlus stems from the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, meaning ‘feathered serpent’.
Discovery
Quetzalcoatlus was discovered through chance by Douglas A. Lawson in 1971 - while digging for sauropods at Big Bend National Park in Texas, Lawson’s team unearthed a giant wing bone fossil. The bone was so large that there was much controversy over what animal the specimen belonged to, but Lawson was able to show comparisons to Pterodactyl that confirmed it was, in fact, a new genus.
Palaeoecology
This genus lived in the southern states of the USA around 66-72 million years ago and shared its environment with a range of other pterosaurs, as well as many dinosaurs including Triceratops and the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex. Quetzalcoatlus remains have mainly been found inland, although this may be because remains were unable to be preserved closer to the coast.
Information
- Era
- Late Cretaceous
- Family
- Azhdarchidae
- Genus
- Quetzalcoatlus
- Height
- 5.5M
- Wingspan
- 15M
- Weight
- 250Kg
- Diet
- Piscivore, Live Prey
- Egg batch size
- 1 - 1
