by Alexander Kellner and Langston in 1996, indicating that its status was too uncertain to give it a full new species name. This second species from Texas was provisionally referred to as a Quetzalcoatlus sp. Later, when more remains were found, it was realized they could have been a separate species. At first, it was assumed that the smaller specimens were juvenile or sub-adult forms of the larger type. The specific name honors John Knudsen Northrop, the founder of Northrop, who was interested in large tailless aircraft designs resembling Quetzalcoatlus. The genus name refers to the Aztec feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl. That same year, in a subsequent letter to the same journal he made the original large specimen, TMM 41450-3, the holotype of a new genus and species, Quetzalcoatlus northropi. Lawson in 1975 announced the find in an article in Science. of the Texas Memorial Museum unearthed three fragmentary skeletons of much smaller individuals. Lawson discovered a second site of the same age, about forty kilometers from the first, where between 19 he and Professor Winn Langston Jr. The specimen consisted of a partial wing (made up of the forearms and elongated fourth finger in pterosaurs), from an individual later estimated at over to 10 m (33 ft) in wingspan. The first Quetzalcoatlus fossils were discovered in Texas (from the Maastrichtian Javelina Formation at Big Bend National Park) in 1971 by geology graduate student Douglas A. Discovery and SpeciesĪ poorly articulated Quetzalcoatlus Skeletal restoration The azhdarchid Hatzegopteryx has been estimated to possibly be similar size and/or larger than Quetzalcoatlus. ![]() However, such claims once also accompanied the discovery of large (perhaps up to 30 ft) Pteranodon. The issue of the size of Quetzalcoatlus is related to the question of what the upper size limit for an animal flight might be and whether Quetzalcoatlus might have reached it. A 2002 study suggested a body mass of 200–260 kg for Quetzalcoatlus, considerably lower than most other recent estimates. Mass estimates for giant azhdarchids are extremely problematic because no existing species share a similar size or body plan, and as a result published results vary widely. More recently, the wingspan estimated has been reduced yet again, this time to 8-11 meters(24-36 feet). in 1981, a further study showed that this estimate was too large, and lowered the estimated wingspan to 15 meters (49 feet). When it was first discovered, scientists estimated that the fossil came from a pterosaur with a wingspan of up to 45 feet (13.7 meters), choosing the middle between three extrapolations from the proportions of other pterosaurs that gave an estimate of 12, 15, and 21 meters (40, 50 and 70 feet) respectively. Quetzalcoatlus northropi is the one of the largest known animals to have ever been able to fly, rivalled by hatzegopteryx and other alike azhdarchids. Scale between the two Quetzalcoatlus species and a Human ![]() A skull crest was present, but its exact size and shape are currently unknown. Based on the inadvertent inclusion of jaw material of another pterosaur species, possibly a Tapejara or a form related to Tupuxuara. This is contrary to earlier skull material, which seemed to have shown an unusually blunt snout. Skull material from a smaller species, Quetzalcoatlus lawsoni shows that Quetzalcoatlus had a long sharp beak, with no hook and the end, like a modern stork.
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