Hatzegopteryx and Quetzalcoatlus the Huge Pterosaurs

Hatzegopteryx

Hatzegopteryx was a huge Pterosaur.  It lived in the Cretaceous Period... in what is now Romania in the continent of Europe.  This Pterosaur had a huge skull.  Its skull was as wide as 18 inches or 50 cm. at the back of it.  It had a sharp point on the end and overall this was a very robust skull.  Most Pterosaurs had gracile skulls.  Gracile means light thinner and robust means think and heavier.   Hatzegopteryx had an especially large or thick neck of 5 feet or 1.5 meters long to support that huge skull.  The vertebrae from that neck were the largest ever seen from a Pterosaur.  When it was first found the fossil was thought to be a large Theropod because no one had seen a Pteroasaur with a robust skull or a skull that large.  The skull was around 5 foot 3 inches or 1.6 meters long  Hatzegopteryx was probably was the top predator of the islands of the late Period.  Those islands eventually became Europe. Hatzegopteryx was close to 10 feet tall, but also had a wingspan of somewhere around 39 feet or 11 meters, but it was probably wider than than.   So, although not taller than the huge Quetzalcoatlus, Hetzegopteryx may have had a wider wing span and been a heavier animal.  It also may have been a predator of land animals like smaller dinosaurs and early mammals.  

   

Quetzalcoatlus had a thinner but longer neck than Hatzegopteryx.  Quetzalcoatlus also had a possibly longer and definitely more narrow skull.  Quetzalcoatlus fossils were found in Texas.  This is the tallest known flying animal of any kind.  It may have weighed more than 500 lbs. or 227 kg.  It had a huge wingspan that was once estimated at  52 feet or 16 meters.  That estimate has been downsized to closer to 40 feet or about 12 meters.   Quetzalcoatlus was as tall as a giraffe.  It was 18 feet or 5.5 meters tall!  This spectacular Pterosaur was named after Quetzalcoatl, who was the Aztec God. known as the feathered serpent. 

One more thing.  Paleontologists think that all Pterosaurs were covered with a fuzzy covering.  It was not fur, nor was it feathers nor protofeathers.  Remember that Pterosaurs went extinct and did not leave any descendants.  Birds descended from feathered Theropod dinosaurs, NOT from Pterosaurs.

Quetzalcoatlus

Quetzalcoatlus with Giraffe for height comparison
(They were never together.  Quetzalcoatlus went extinct with the large non avian dinosaurs.
 This drawing is to help you see just how tall Quetzalcoatlus was.)

Quetzalcoatl on pyramid at Teotihuacan
I have seen this Pyramid that is located just outside of Mexico City.

NOTE:  The printable versions of this are found under the Paleontology Button or the All Printables Buttons that are located at the top of this blog page.  The names of newer drawings are at the bottom of the lists.