Quetzalcoatlus
Was Quetzalcoatlus a dinosaur? Where did it live? What did it eat?
Find out about it's size, habitat, diet. Pictures, information and more for kids.
These amazing reptiles were the largest flying creatures ever. Hollow bones and a small body meant it was light enough to fly despite its size.
They were a type of reptile known as pterosaurs. Several different kinds of pterosaurs lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.
Fast Facts
- You say their name 'KWET-zal-koh-AT-lus'.
- It is named after a legendary feathered serpent god of Mexico.
- They were flying reptiles - not dinosaurs.
- They lived in the Late Cretaceous Period.
- They were the size of a small aircraft.
- Scientist believe it may have walked with its wings
More Quetzalcoatlus Details
They lived about 70 to 65.5 million years ago in the cretaceous period with
T. Rex,
Triceratops and other
Cretaceous dinosaurs.
Artists Impression Courtesy : Mark Witton and Darren Naish
Scientist think that they may have used their folded up wings as legs - and walked on all fours!
More questions you may have :
What did they eat?
Scientist aren't sure - some think they were like vultures, swooping down to feed on carcass. Others think they waded and probed sand and mud to find fish, crabs and worms.
And many scientists think they would swoop from the sky to catch small Cretaceous animals - like Storks of today.
Where did they live?
The first skeleton was discovered in the Big Bend National Park, Texas,US, but similar fossils have been found in Alberta, Russia, Jordan in the Middle East and Senegal in Africa.
How big was this pterosaur?
They had a wing span of about 22 feet (10 metres). When flying it would have measured about 26 feet (8 metres) in length. Its beak was longer than an adult human.
Pterosaur coloring page
Kids-Dinosaurs
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Quetzalcoatlus
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