As flying animals go they don't get much bigger than Hatzegopteryx. It was a pterosaur of gigantic proportions, standing over five metres tall with a wingspan of at least ten metres. This would have made Hatzegopteryx one of, if not the, largest flying animal ever known. The robust skull was three metres long and among the largest of any non-marine animal.
The massive lower jaw was found to have a groove that would have allowed for an impressively wide gape. Hatzegopteryx's heavily built skull was in contrast to other pterosaur skulls that were made up of lightweight plates. The necessary reduction in weight being achieved by the skull bones internal structure. Hatzegopteryx would have been flying the skies 65 million years ago above what is now Europe.
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Top predators
Hatzegopteryx is the largest flying vertebrate ever known.
Hatzegopteryx is the largest flying vertebrate ever known.
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Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
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Cretaceous period
Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinctionHatzegopteryx ("Hațeg basin wing") is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur, known from incomplete remains found in Transylvania, Romania. The skull fragments, left humerus, and other fossilized remains indicate it was among the largest pterosaurs. The skeleton of Hatzegopteryx has been considered identical to the known remains of Quetzalcoatlus northropi. Q. northropi has not yet been properly described, and if it is not a nomen dubium, Hatzegopteryx is possibly its junior synonym.
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