![]() It also had several adaptations for spending lots of time on the ground, like fellow azhdarchid Quetzalcoatlus, a giraffe-sized pterosaur that can be seen getting up to some egg-based shenanigans in the Freshwater episode of David Attenborough’s latest series, Prehistoric Planet.Īzhdarchids were known for their large skulls and long necks compared to their body size. amaru occupied river habitats where bodies of water met large plains to create floodplains with sparse vegetation, Dr Ortiz David told IFLScience. The palaeoecological interpretation of their findings (a fun word for the study of prehistoric animals’ ecology) indicates that T. “he good preservation of elements in three dimensions (an unusual condition for these giant flying vertebrates) allows us to perform muscle reconstructions and work to understand the kinematics of these animals.” The remains, recovered in 2012, include some features preserved in their three-dimensional form. Images courtesy of Dr D Ortiz David “What most excites the research team about the discovery is the number of lines of work that the fossil remains will allow us to perform,” Dr Ortiz David told IFLScience. They include bones never before described in giant azhdarchids, some preserved in their three-dimensional form. Images courtesy of Dr D Ortiz Davidīeyond being impressive, winged predators, the specimens also represent some informative nuggets from the fossil record. ![]() Ortiz David provides a size comparison with a to-scale model of T. Their proximity to one another indicates that, like other pterosaurs, these dragons of death lived in groups. The new species is currently known from two specimens: a juvenile and an adult. Ortiz David, Coordinator General at the Laboratory and Museum of Dinosaurs at the National University of Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. Its enormous wingspan is estimated to have been between 7 and 9 meters (23 to 30 feet), as described in a new paper published in the journal Cretaceous Research led by Dr Leonardo D.
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