Quetzalcoatlus lawsoni
- Gnathostomata
- Tetrapoda
- Amniota
- Sauropsida
- Archosauromorpha
- Archosauria
- Avemetatarsalia
- Pterosauria
- Pterodactyloidea
- Azhdarchoidea
- Azhdarchidae
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Quetzalcoatlus was an enormous Late Cretaceous azhdarchid pterosaur (pterosaurs being flying reptiles closely related to dinosaurs, but not one of them). Such giants may have flown across continents…or perhaps even between them, but so far Quetzalcoatlus fossils hail from Big Bend, Texas (I guess everything really is bigger there?).
There are currently two species of Quetzalcoatlus, and the smaller of the two, Q. lawsoni is shown here, for the very good reason that it’s a heck of a lot more complete than the remains of the bigger Q. northropi (for reference, Q. lawsoni had a wingspan of ~5 m / 15 feet, while Q. northropi had a wingspan closer to 10 m / 30+ feet). Both species of Quetzalcoatlus would likely have stalked prey on the ground, walking around on their long legs, spearing small animals with their long neck and pointed, toothless beak.