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Largest Pterosaur?

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  • 21-10-2011 12:28am
    #1
    Mr.Nice Guy
    Registered Users Posts: 45,594 ✭✭✭✭


    Evening all. I have a question regarding the flying dinosaurs. I was watching Planet Dinosaur on the BBC the other night which I enjoyed, but I was surprised as it seemed to suggest that Hatzegopteryx was the largest of the Pterosaurs. This surprised me as I am sure I heard on a different dinosaur programme that the largest Pterosaur was Quetzalcoatlus? Perhaps it's neither though? :)

    Can anyone clarify this for me? What was the largest Pterosaur?
    Tagged:


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    #2
    Galvasean
    Registered Users Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    They are give or take the same size it would seem, depending on individuals. According to wikipedia Hatzegopteryx may in fact be the very same thing as Quetzalcoatlus.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatzegopteryx


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    #3
    Adam Khor
    Registered Users Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Hatzegopteryx was until recently said to be bigger than Quetzalcoatlus, with Hatzeg having a wingspan of 12 meters, and Quetza about 10-11 meters. However, recently a certain pterosaur expert said that Hatzeg was probably not much bigger than Quetza after all.

    BUT...

    You must keep in mind that the remains of BOTH creatures are extremely fragmentary, and that their true proportions are unknown- the current estimates are based on other, smaller azdharchid pterosaurs.
    They may have been bigger or smaller for all we know, and there may be much, much larger pterosaurs out there waiting to be discovered.


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