![]() “Never before has so much detailed information on azhdarchids (the pterosaur family that includes Quetzalcoatlus) been gathered in the same place, this meaning that the work will serve as the standard go-to study of this group for years – probably decades – to come,” concluded vertebrate paleontologist Darren Naish.īy Andrei Ionescu, Earth. While the larger Quetzalcoatlus might have lived like today’s herons, hunting alone in rivers and streams, the smaller species appeared to flock together in lakes with at least 30 individuals found at a single fossil site. The researchers also found more details about these dinosaurs’ possible habitats and behaviors. “Pterosaurs have huge breast bones, which is where the flight muscles attach, so there is no doubt that they were terrific flyers,” said collection co-editor Kevin Padian, an emeritus professor and emeritus curator at the University of California, Berkeley.Īlthough scientists previously assumed that the pterosaur rocked forward on its wingtips like a vampire bat, or built up speed by running and flapping like an albatross, these new analyses suggest that it may have initially jumped at least eight feet into the air before lifting off by flipping its wings. ![]() Later on, they applied their insights to its larger cousin too. This offered the scientists the possibility to reconstruct an almost complete skeleton and study the ways in which it moved and flew. While the larger species is known from only around a dozen bones, hundreds of fossils from the smaller species were discovered. “That would be hugely informative and would really test a lot of our hypothesis about what these big animals look like based on the small ones,” Brown said.The in-depth study of all confirmed and suspected Quetzalcoatlus bones led to the identification of two new pterosaur species, including a smaller one, with an 18-to-20-foot wingspan, which was named Quetzalcoatlus lawsoni, in the honor of Douglas Lawson, the geologist who discovered the bones in 1971. One of Brown’s personal goals is to obtain a permit and go out into the national park to find the rest of the animal and collect it. Brown said he wants to pick up where Douglas Lawson, a former geology graduate student at the University of Texas who discovered the original bones in 1971, left off. Paleontologists estimate that Quetzalcoatlus could have flown at speeds up to 128 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour) and could have traveled 643 kilometers (400. Its wingspan was 10-12 meters (33-40 feet), and its beak length was about 2.5 meters (8.2 feet). Scientists have fairly complete skeletons of the smaller species, but only a portion of the original Quetzalcoatlus body. Quetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur as large as a giraffe, lived 71 million years ago. Researchers found about 30 of the flying animals together at a fossil excavation. The smaller Quetzalcoatlus was much more social and would spend time in large groups. This reptile species also tended to hunt alone. It may be the largest flying creature ever to have lived, with a wingspan reaching nearly 40 feet Like the other Pterosaurs, Quetzalcoatlus is not. The larger Quetzalcoatlus would have likely used its narrow beak to forage for crabs and worms along the water, according to the research collection. The animals lived in a forest oasis over 70 million years ago in what is now Texas, which was home to many bodies of water. The smaller of the two new species has a blunt beak while the larger species has a long, thin, beak that comes to a point. An artist’s interpretation Quetzalcoatlus lawsoni, a new species with an 18-20 foot wingspan, soaring above the water. Adam Marsh/National Park Serviceģ00 million-year-old fossil skeleton in Utah could be the first of its kind Scientists collect a 300 million-year-old fossil skeleton at Canyonlands National Park.
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