Quetzalcoatlus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), 68–66Ma | |
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Artist's Illustration (Mark Witton) of Quetzalcoatlus northropi eating juvenile sauropods | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Sauropsida |
Order: | †Pterosauria |
Family: | †Azhdarchidae |
Genus: | †Quetzalcoatlus Lawson, 1975 |
Type species | |
†Quetzalcoatlus northropi Lawson, 1975 | |
Other species | |
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Quetzalcoatlus (meaning feathered serpent) is an extinct genus of large pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America. The type species is Quetzalcoatlus northropi.
Discovery and Naming[]
The holotype was discovered in Texas in 1971 by geology graduate student Douglas A. Lawson. The specimen consisted of a partial wing ,from an individual later estimated at over to 10 m (33 ft) in wingspan. Lawson discovered a second site of the same age, about forty kilometers from the first, where between 1972 and 1974 he and Professor Winn Langston Jr. of the Texas Memorial Museum unearthed three fragmentary skeletons of much smaller individuals. Lawson in 1975 named Quetzalcoatlus northropi. the generic name is Quetzalcoatl, while the specific name is named after John K.Northrop.
Quetzalcoatlus lawsoni[]
It was assumed that the smaller specimens were juvenile or subadult forms of the larger type at first. Later, when the more remains were found, it could have been a separate species, so they named it Quetzalcoatlus sp. In 2021, Q. lawsoni was validated and confirmed to be in the same genus.
Description[]
Its wingspan is at 10-11m (33-36ft), and weighs 200-250 kg (440-550Ib). Its beak is sharp-pointed. Q.Lawsoni has a wingspan of 5m (16ft) and body length of 3.5m (11ft). It is one of the largest flying animal of all time. It is from a partial wing.
Classification[]
Paleontologists have concluded the phylogenetic placement of Quetzalcoatlus to be within the clade Neoazhdarchia in the family Azhdarchidae from Andres and Myers. Its current closest related genus is Arambourgiania.
Other Wikis[]
https://prehistoric-wiki.fandom.com/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus
In Popular Culture[]
- Quetzalcoatlus was the star of the 1986 IMAX movie On the Wing where a half-sized robot version engineered by AeroVironment demonstrated primitive flight.
- It appears in the BBC Documentary, Walking with Dinosaurs episode "Death of a Dynasty", but is one of the most inaccurate creatures in it, mostly because it is an edit of Ornithocheirus. The real one had no teeth, a longer neck, pycnofibres, it walked more upright on the ground, had a large flat crest, and a longer, thicker beak.
- It appears in Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie, where a pair are seen feeding on prehistoric crabs, scaring off two juvenile Pachyrhinosaurus, named Patchi and Juniper. Another one is caught and eaten mid-flight by a Gorgosaurus named Gorgon. But the head is too small. In reality, they were much larger than even the torso. The producers changed this for fear of looking ridiculous. The neck is somewhat too short as well, also rigidly connecting to the bottom of the head. Despite this, it's accurately depicted with pycnofiberous fuzz, which it had in real life.
- It appears in the fourth and final episode of Dinosaur Planet. It lacks pycnofibres and crouched over the ground, unlike the real pterosaur.
- It appears in When Dinosaurs Roamed America in the late Cretaceous segment. It lacks pycnofibres and crouched over the ground, unlike the real pterosaur. “The same model was also seen in Jeff Corwin’s Giant Monsters.
- It appears in the Cretaceous episode of Animal Armageddon. It lacks pycnofibres.
- Quetzalcoatlus is nr. 112 of the Carnivore Threes that can be created in the game Jurassic Park III: Park Builder.
- At a 2013 Star Wars convention in Germany, a short film was shown with Quetzalcoatlus hunting humans at a beach. Quetzalcoatlus was shown in great detail, like its body structure and skin color, and even male and female versions of the animal. The video ended with the Jurassic World logo. The video was part of Iain McCaig's presentation. Frank Marshall confirmed on Twitter that the video was "not a part of the movie." It is being speculated that this footage is actually for a failed Jurassic Park video game that never made it to the marketplace. According to the video description: It was apparently shown to Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg. Iain McCaig actually said, "it certainly got Steven interested in dinosaurs again...". It lacks pycnofibres and crouched over the ground, unlike the real pterosaur.
- There are a fictional species of Quetzalcoatlus known as Skybax in the Dinotopia series. But it lacks pycnofibres.
It was illustrated by Bill Watterson in a Sunday strip of Calvin and Hobbes in May 1993.
- Quetzalcoatlus was also featured in a Christmas special The Christmas Dinosaur. Among them was named spot.
- It was also in Dinosaur Train episode 41: The Wing Kings and in episode 42: The Pterosaur Flying Club Show. A Quetzalcoatlus named Quincy was in both episodes; his dad appeared to have a 42-foot wingspan.
- Quetzalcoatlus makes a few appearances in Dinosaur Revolution but is not identified on the show. It lacks pycnofibres.
- Quetzalcoatlus appears in Clash of the Dinosaurs where it is shown eating baby Tyrannosaurus rex. The same Quetzalcoatlus model was used in the Last Day of the Dinosaurs. It lacks pycnofibers, but otherwise seems accurate.
- It is in ARK: Survival Evolved. Although it's covered in pycnofibers, it's crouched over the ground, unlike the real pterosaur.
- Quetzalcoatlus also appeared in Flying Monsters. It is depicted with pycnofibers. This animal is also shown as an opportunistic carnivore, feeding on both a hadrosaur carcass and a lizard.
- A Quetzalcoatlus appears briefly near the end of The Land Before Time VII: the Stone of Cold Fire. He is brought by Petrie's Mother to help find the children, and helps carry them off of Threehorn Peak while it is erupting, and back to the Great Valley. The flyer's only words in the movie are a gentle "hyhuck". It lacks pycnofibres, unlike the real pterosaur.
- It appears in the TV show, Dino Dan, and its sequels, Dino Dan: Trek's Adventures and Dino Dana. It lacks pycnofibres.
- It appears in The Hunter: Primal.
- It appears in The Isle.
- It also appears in Jurassic World: The Game as a super rare pterosaur. It lacks pycnofibres in all evolutions minus some tail "feathers" in its' final evolution (level 31 - 40).
- It is currently in the game Saurian.
- It appears in the game Jurassic World: Alive.
- It also has a toy version made by Schleich.
- It also appeared in the ROBLOX game Era of Terror before the game was shut down, it does not appear in the remake. True to the real animal, it possessed pycnofibres
- Unlike the ROBLOX game Era of Terror, Quetzalcoatlus is still in another ROBLOX dinosaur game named Dinosaur Simulator (DS for short).
- Quetzalcoatlus also appears in Dinosaur world mobile.
- Quetzalcoatlus is shown in Dinosaur King.
- A Quetzalcoatlus appeared in Jurassic World: Dominion. As a result, it also received toys and lego figures based on its likeness. It is remarkably oversized compared to the real counterpart and doesn't take flight the way paleontologists propose.
- Quetzalcoatlus is included in the Dominion BioSyn Expansion paid DLC for Jurassic World Evolution 2. Its model is heavily based on that in Jurassic World Dominion, but has been shrunken down to fit the limits of the game's aviary system.
- Quetzalcoatlus also appears in the BBC Documentary Series Prehistoric Planet, during episode 3, titled Freshwater. It stars in its very own scene, taking place in Southern Africa where a female is depicted laying eggs in damp soil to protect the eggs from drying out. There is another azhdarchid pterosaur in episode 2, Deserts, that looks very similar to Quetzalcoatlus, even donning the same color scheme, but has not been confirmed as a member of this genus. The giant pterosaur also appears in episode 5 of Season 2, North America, in which a pair of Quetzalcoatlus challenge a Tyrannosaurus over an Alamosaurus carcass.
- Quetzalcoatlus was mentioned in When Dinosaurs Ruled.
References[]
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2021.1907587
- https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujvp20/41/sup1
- https://eartharchives.org/articles/quetzalcoatlus-the-largest-flying-animal-of-all-time/index.html
- https://www.wired.com/2013/11/absurd-creature-of-the-week-quetz/
- https://www.pteros.com/pterosaurs/quetzalcoatlus.html
- https://scitechdaily.com/legendary-flying-reptile-fleshing-out-the-bones-of-quetzalcoatlus-earths-largest-flier-ever/
- https://phys.org/news/2021-12-fleshing-bones-quetzalcoatlus-earth-largest.html
- https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/palaeontology/how-did-the-worlds-largest-pterosaur-fly/