Extinct Creatures-- Quetzalcoatlus

Okay so this week, to make up for my many weeks away, I'll be posting extinct creatures daily! And all of them will be pterosaurs because I haven't done any yet and they are my absolute favorite things and sometimes I cry when I think about them.

So pterosaurs. They are not dinosaurs, though they share a common ancestor with dinosaurs, so they're pretty close. They're warm blooded, quadrupedal, and have a coat of what looks like hair but is actually something called pycnofibers, a structure that is unique to pterosaurs. They are one of the three groups of vertebrates that have obtained true flight-- birds and bats being the other two. I will probably post a little comparison between their three wing structures later this week, because it is super fascinating to see how different groups approach the issue of getting off the ground! Pterosaurs have big flexible flaps of skin supported by weird little fibers called actinofibrils, and the flaps extend from the end of their long long finger to their legs. Birds are well known for having hollow, lightweight bones, but the bones of pterosaurs were even more so, which helped them obtain flight even at the incredible size of something like Quetzalcoatlus. 

Quetzalcoatlus is actually probably not the best pterosaur to start with, because it is really weird and gigantic and definitely not your typical pterosaur, but I love it to bits so I wanted to draw it first! Plus, it's a great pterosaur to help other people fall in love with pterosaurs, because look at it, loOK AT IT. GIRAFFE THAT FLIES

It lived in the southern region of what is now North America during the late Cretaceous. It hunted creatures on land, which was quite different from the piscivorous diet most pterosaurs had enjoyed since they fist evolved. It is one of the largest creatures that ever flew, though its fellow azhdarchids (a family of pterosaurs) were also pretty big! Hatzegopteryx, for instance, was dang big, though not quite as dang big as our large friend Quetzalcoatlus.

If you also like pterosaurs, the guy to go to for really up-to-date and reliable info is Mark Witton! He wrote and illustrated Pterosaurs, which is a very very good book. If you want to learn all about how amazing and beautiful pterosaurs were I definitely recommend it.

Can't wait to show you more amazing pterosaurs,

-Abby