Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Quetzalcoatlus

So it's not a dinosaur exactly, it's a flying reptile, and I haven't heard any news about one for a while, but this thing is one of my favorite ancient animals of all time, so it seemed to deserve a post.
        Quetzalcoatlus was a late cretaceous pterosaur, and it was enormous. Sources I found didn't usually seem to agree with each other on the exact wingspan, but mostly they seemed to average around 37ft, or 11m. That's a pretty huge animal. You could use its wings to make carpets. Chances are they would be pretty stylish carpets as well, seeing as (like most pterosaurs) old Quetz would probably have been adorned with vibrant colors. Especially on the crest. Here's a picture I found of what is apparently an accurate portrayal of a quetzalcoatlus on the ground.

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Personally, I don't really buy it. With the size of that head, it would need some really strong neck muscles to hold it up. The problem with that is muscles are weight, and weight is not the friend of an already possibly 100kg animal who is trying to fly. In my opinion, a quetzalcoatlus on the ground probably wouldn't move much, since moving would probably also be difficult, and it would probably need it's front legs angled more forward than in this picture. If it could keep its body in the air with little effort, it might spend incredibly long amounts of time in the air. But hey, what do I know. I think the best part of that picture is the unemployed hipster who's just standing there checking out the quetzacoatlus' chest. He wants it.
Above: An artist's interpretation of a quetzalcoatlus on a flight break

Above: Uncle Quetzalcoatlus' vexatious wife


Annyways. Next time we'll probably talk about Aunt Pegomastax. Or whatever. I'll decide later.

Athos

The sites I used for this:

Thanks for the Uncle Quetzalcoatlus picture goes to Miss Emma from A Pinch of Pixie Dust.


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