Sept. - Oct. 2005

Pterosaur: Quetzalcoatlus
Pronounced:
      Kett - zal - coe - at - luss
Means: "feathered serpent god"
Wingspan: 35-40 feet
Weight: up to 300 pounds
Diet: Carnivore (probably ate
     arthropods & dying animals)
Period: late Cretaceous
Location: North America (Texas)     and Mexico
Most notable feature: The largest     flying animal ever found.

Quetzalcoatlus illustration courtesy of Todd Marshall

   Quetzalcoatlus was not a dinosaur but they were closely related.  Quetzalcoatlus was a flying reptile that lived during the time of the dinosaurs. It is the largest flying animal ever found and died out along with the dinosaurs during the mass K-T extinction. Quetzalcoatlus is from the pterosaur family. Its legs and head were over 7 feet long and its wingspan was around 35-40 feet! Quetzalcoatlus was also able to fold up its wings like a bat. It had a long, thin beak and toothless jaws. With its light build and small body this huge Pterosaur only  weighed up to 300 pounds. Another interesting fact is that the Quetzalcoatlus, like all flying reptiles and meat-eating dinosaurs, had hollow bones just like our modern day birds. Quetzalcoatlus had big eyes  and a large brain for its size. This tells us that it probably had good eye sight in order to seek out its food. from the air. Like other pterosaurs, Quetzalcoatlus had a bony crest on the top of its head, similar to the modern day Cassowary bird from New Zealand. This could have been a sexual characteristic and was possibly used to attract a mate. Quetzalcoatlus wings were a leathery membrane and could be up to 9 inches thick in certain areas, like the elbow. This membrane stretched from its body and the top of the legs to its elongated fourth finger, forming the wing structure. Claws protruded from the three other exposed fingers, approximately located in the middle of the wing. Quetzalcoatlus probably soared or glided with the help of breezes and updrafts (rising warm air). Unlike other Pterosaurs, Quetzalcoatlus lived inland from the sea and because of that did not have an all fish diet. Quetzalcoatlus was also a carnivore but probably ate arthropods (early crayfish) and dying animals that it found while flying near bodies of inland water. In 1917 the first Quetzalcoatlus was discovered by Douglas A. Lawson at Big Bend National Park in Texas. Since then other smaller specimens have been found. Lawson named Quetzalcoatlus in 1975 after an Aztec feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl.
 


Vote for your favorite
 dinosaur or prehistoric animal to be featured
in upcoming issues of the Dig Site.
Email your vote to april@rmdrc.com or mail it to RMDRC, 201 S. Fairview St., Woodland Park, CO  80863.

Thank you to Tanner Cook
 for suggesting this issue's
featured pterosaur!

 
 


Kid's Quote:

"It was cool! I want to come back someday!"
 
 


EVENTS:

Monday - Sunday. . . EVERYDAY in the afternoon!
Children's Story Time in the Atrium
Sit back, relax and listen to dinosaur stories read by
our excellent Visitor Experience Guides.

Traveling Dino Show! See us out and about at:
Cruise Above the Clouds, Woodland Park, Sept. 17.
Denver Fossil Show, Denver Merchandise Mart,
Sept. 16, 17, and 18.
Healthy Families Fair, Citadel Mall, Oct. 8.
Boo at the Zoo, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo,
Oct. 21-23 and 28-30.

Friday, September 30 at 6 pm
60 Minutes in Space at the RMDRC
Go behind the headlines with up-to-the-minute reports
in space exploration presented by Dr. Dimitri Klebe
from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Monday, October 31 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Trick or Treat at the RMDRC!
We can't wait to see your Halloween costumes!
 

Halloween is on its way! Be a dino digger! Come to our gift
shop and see our fun paleontologist outfits. And mark your
calendars for trick or treat at the RMDRC on Halloween, Monday,
October 31 from 4 to 6 p.m. We'd love to see your costumes --
whatever you choose to be!

 

 

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