Dino card No. 1518 of 2,015

Quetzalcoatlus

Say it: ket-sul-ko-AHT-lus

Name means: “named after the Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl”1

Ate: MeatFlying reptilesLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Quetzalcoatlus was one of the largest flying animals that ever lived. It was a pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived at the same time as dinosaurs. With a wingspan as wide as a small airplane, it could soar over the ancient landscapes of Texas.2 1

Fun fact: pterosaurs flew over the dinosaurs, but they were their cousins, not dinosaurs themselves.

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Texas, USA (Big Bend National Park, Javelina Formation)3 2

Food

Meat1

Wingspan

11 to 12 m2 1

estimated for the largest species Q. northropi

Weight

230 kg2

Artist's life restoration of Quetzalcoatlus — How Quetzalcoatlus may have looked, by Mark Witton and Darren Naish. CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Scientists still argue about colours and details.

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of about 11 to 12 metres (36 to 39 feet), which is as wide as a small plane.2

It weighed only about 230 kilograms (500 pounds), which is light for its huge size, thanks to hollow bones.2

Quetzalcoatlus could walk on all fours using its wings as front legs, like a bat.2

It lived about 68 to 66 million years ago, right at the end of the age of dinosaurs.1

The first fossil was a single wing bone found by a student named Douglas Lawson in 1971.2

Quetzalcoatlus probably launched into flight by pushing off the ground with its strong front legs, not by jumping with its back legs.1

There might be two species: the giant Q. northropi and a smaller one called Q. lawsoni, which had a wingspan of about 5.5 metres (18 feet).2 1

Myth buster

Myth: Many people think Quetzalcoatlus was a dinosaur.

Truth: Quetzalcoatlus was a pterosaur, a flying reptile that is not a dinosaur. Dinosaurs are a different group of animals.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Quetzalcoatlus
Named by: Lawson 19753
Group: Flying reptiles
Family / clade: Azhdarchidae3
Classification: Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea > Azhdarchidae3
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Javelina, Black Peaks3
Countries: USA3
Fossil records: 8 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: In 1971, geology student Douglas Lawson found a huge wing bone in Big Bend National Park, Texas. He named it Quetzalcoatlus northropi in 1975.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether the smaller Quetzalcoatlus fossils are a separate species (Q. lawsoni) or just young individuals of the giant species.2 1

Where the facts come from

Quetzalcoatlus (en.wikipedia.org)
Pterosaurs - Big Bend National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Quetzalcoatlus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.