![]() ![]() Some had though it rocked forward on its wingtips like a vampire bat. ![]() This lack of research means just how such a massive animal got airborne has since been mostly a matter of speculation until now. Lawson, a geology graduate from the University of Texas at Austin.Ī few years later, the first species to be discovered in the Quetzalcoatlus genus was named Quetzalcoatlus northropi in a research paper by Lawson.īut aside from Lawson's early descriptions of the fossils, almost no scientific research has been published based on direct study of the bones. The genus Quetzalcoatlus was first identified from fossils discovered in Texas at Big Bend National Park in 1971 by Douglas A. 'Walking about on land, it could move its head and neck to an arc of 180 degrees, capable of full vision all around it.' 'It could lower the great head far below the horizontal, so if it were cruising above dry land, it might have been able to swoop down and pluck an unsuspecting animal. 'This animal could raise its head and neck vertically, so as to swallow the small prey it seized with its jaws,' said Padian. Quetzalcoatlus may also have been as skilled at stalking prey from the air as from land. 'Then it puts down its front feet, then it assumes a four-legged posture, straightens itself out and walks away.' ![]() Herons and egrets do the same, though they are considerably smaller than Quetzalcoatlus.Īs for its landing, this was almost like the take-off but in reverse. 'The animal had to flap its wings to stall and slow its descent and then it lands with its back feet and takes a little hop,' Padian said. Instead, they likely used their strong rear legs to jump upward, and then, once the ground clearance equalled the wing length, began to flap. 'The results are revolutionary for the study of pterosaurs – the first animals, after insects, ever to evolve powered flight.'īecause the legs of Quetzalcoatlus were shorter than its wings, taking off was not as simple as flapping to generate lift. 'This is the first real look at the entirety of the largest animal ever to fly, as far as we know. 'This ancient flying reptile is legendary, although most of the public conception of the animal is artistic, not scientific. 'Pterosaurs have huge breastbones, which is where the flight muscles attach, so there is no doubt that they were terrific flyers,' said study author Professor Kevin Padian at the University of California, Berkeley. Pterosaurs weren't dinosaurs, but a group of flying reptiles that lived during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods (228 to 66 million years ago). It walked on two legs, but because its forelimb bones were so elongated, its wings could not avoid touching the ground when folded. Quetzalcoatlus was warm-blooded and is thought to have had hair instead of feathers and no tail, likely to improve its maneuverability. Its launch method was similar to egrets and herons today, but it was more like a modern-day condor and vulture in terms of how it gracefully soared through the air. They say the mammoth creature likely jumped at least 8 feet to get airborne before lifting off by sweeping its massive wingspan, which measured up to 40 feet. The world's largest pterosaur jumped in the air so it could get off the ground to be able to fly 70 million years ago, a new study has found.Įxperts analysed fossils of Quetzalcoatlus – the largest known animal to take to the sky – found in Big Bend National Park in west Texas, to estimate its launch sequence. ![]()
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