QUETZALCOATLUS
The largest animal ever to fly, Quetzalcoatlus northropi (khet-zal-co-awt-lus north-rope-E) was another giant from late Cretaceous North America. Possessing a wing span of 40 feet, Quetzalcoatlus would have used thermal air currents to soar through the sky at high speeds. It lived in the famous Hell Creek formation, which stretched from eastern Montana to the western side of the Dakotas. The Hell Creek formation was also home to Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and Pachycephalosaurus.
The skeleton of Quetzalcoatlus is bizarre compared to other short tailed pterosaurs. First off, its legs are long and well adapted to walking. Second, the vertebrate in its neck are extremely elongated. Yet, it could still easily reach the ground due to its long beak. All these traits strongly suggest that Quetzalcoatlus spent more time on the ground than most other pterosaurs.
These adaptations in the skeleton of Quetzalcoatlus made it the stork of the Hell Creek Formation. However, this stork would not have hunted fish and frogs. This creature hunted baby and small dinosaurs. Even mighty Tyrannosaurus rex's children might not have been safe from this terror from the skies.
Extinction
Sadly, like so many other Mesozoic creatures, Quetzalcoatlus went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 mya. However, it was already one of the last of its kind, with only a few other pterosaurs living at the time of the extinction.
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Image Credits
All images have been cropped to fit the space required
All images are used under Fair Use laws
Image credits are listed from top to bottom and from left to right
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Quetzalcoatlus model
Original picture taken by: My Grandpa
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Quetzalcoatlus skeleton
Original picture taken by: Yinan Chen
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Quetzalcoatlus hunting
Original painting by: Mark Witton and Darren Naish