Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx have got to be some of the most bizarre animals to ever exist. Im pretty sure that nothing on earth today would be as surreal as seeing an F-15 sized bird-looking bird thing take off.
Prehistory was hell on Earth. I believe it will get pretty old pretty fast seeing those beasts, not to mention bus sized demon lizards... Bruh... Even the not so distant past was full of radical beasts, like 20k years ago. Conveniently we live maybe in the least monster filled time in human history. And our civilisation rose when the giga beasts started disappearing. Like 15 ton elephants...
@@kyachdistent1301 Nah, we aren't the cause of the extinction of those monster species. The end of ice age made them die. Having your views is unhealthy pal. I know they hold truth in them, but still they are unhealthy for you. The truth they hold is from nature's perspective, and nature doesn't give a flying f, cuz its non sentient. Nature is murdering us all as well. We aren't eternal. It was nature that want us dead actually, not us specifically wanting nature dead. 😂
Dude Earth is nothing. We have one of the least interesting ecologies, what I think is actually the smallest kingdom of animals, and humans are definitely the most unintelligent of all the planets in the cosmic federation. Earth itself is a rather unremarkable planet for its age. We humans are so far behind in technology and cultural advancement compared to the other planets in the cosmic federation, and most of their planets are far younger. It took far longer for our environment to select for higher intelligence than the other side planets’ species which gained conscientiousness. I think probably the most studied planet we have the best data on is planet 419. This is the home planet of the Kanassans who evolved for intelligence after a mere 150 million years. By the time humanity was even starting to evolve enough sentience to begin using tools, the Kanassans had already developed a sort of future sight their cognitive capabilities had become so advanced. Planet 419 is one of the most powerful, advanced planets in the cosmic federation so it’s an interesting benchmark to use for Earth. Anyways just thought I’d contribute a bit to the discussion even if I’m a bit late. I think most people don’t really put a lot of time into studying other planets, but I must say I think it’s quite an interesting and rewarding subject. Do any of you feel like Earth has any unique advantages over any of the other planets in the cosmic federation? I’m curious about everyone else’s impressions.
Quetzalcoatlus is one of the few prehistoric animals I am genuinely scared of. Most other prehistoric animals I just find beautiful or interesting, like most modern animals.
This thing would of been terrifying I sometimes think if it was still alive and toddlers were left unattended this thing could just scoop them up with their beaks and swallow them then just take off like nothing happened
@@elmochomo8218 If it had a fine sense of smell, would find the smell of humans puzzling and ignore them. If it had great eyesight it would see something weird and dismiss it as not important. Animals tend not to eat what they don't understand.
As absolutely beautiful as this Pterosaur was... there's also something about it that absolutely gives me the creeps! As amazing as it would have been to see, not sure I'd wanna come face to face with one. Great work. Awesome video!
@@goldensaurus It depends if they are opportunistic--see something move, eat it--or specialized--see x, y or z species, eat it, ignore all else. Lions ignore baboons. Lions will kill other predators, but will not eat them. Baboons and other predators fall outside of x, y and z. Will they eat them if forced by hunger? Sure, but they are not disposed to doing so. When I was traveling in Africa, I learned that lions almost never attack humans. The exception is almost always a starving male driven into a village out of desperation because he has been driven from a pride. You don't want to put yourself in a position where you will get attacked by a lion, but they will attack for fun or out of fear, but it is rare. Humans fall outside of the x, y, z parameters for lions, so as a general rule, lions do not hunt humans. Bears, however, will attack and eat just about anything. So will crocodiles. Alligators will not. Crocodiles and bears are more broadly opportunistic. We can never know what a prehistoric animal ate, nor can we know what sort of creature they may have been, opportunistic, or specific. Assuming they would eat humans is interesting to think about, and the idea that they would completely ignore us is boring, but either could be the case. I think more often than not, that they would ignore us. Humans tend to put themselves at the center of things, at the center of the solar system, at the center of life. Historically it was believed we were the center of the universe and life. Science has disproven these things, but we still feel like we are very important. Feeling a prehistoric animal would find us important is a bit egoistic, or at least an unscientific assumption
Dinosaurs were probably way cooler looking with exotic colors, and were probably even more scarier than we can imagine! If only we had a time machine .
Yep. Some paleontologists even believe they were feathered and, thus, were the progenitors of birds. Not a particularly widely accepted theory, though.
@@GaryR55It is very widely accepted, not only that but birds ARE dinosaurs. We also have conclusive proof that some ancient dinosaurs did have feathers, although some also didn't.
4:10 you got this wrong- it's BIRDS that use the hind legs to leap in to the air, this is in contrast to how the most terrrestrial microbats and pterosaurs do it- by pushing off from the back but more importantly, using their massively muscled FRONT limbs as pole vaults to get aloft
This is even the key reason why they could grow so large. Birds are limited by the fact that they need enough breast muscles to fly plus enough leg muscles to get off the ground while Pterosaurs uses the same muscles for both flight, ground movement and getting off the ground. This is also why there is no reason for Pterosaurs to evolve away flight.
Recent estimates actually give Hatzegopteryx a shorter yet stockier skull, with a modest length of 5 - 6 feet long; which actually seems to benefit its Apex Predator lifestyle.
This thing would have been *amazing* to see gliding across the sky! I know that if the dinosaurs were still around, we probably wouldn't be here but part of me is quite sad that they're no longer around. Just a feeling of melancholy - that we'll never see a stegosaurus or triceratops stomping around. That we'll never see pterosaurs gliding around.
I agree. It would be amazing to see what they truly looked like and I'm sure it would be awesome but terrifying to see a Iarge pterosaur flying overhead.
Pretty interesting...it would be remarkable to actually see one of these things flying. They must have taken advantage of thermal rise near mountains at least in some circumstances to stay in the air, and with that huge wingspan, and enough height they could certainly go a pretty good distance before needing a place to land.
As big and intimidating as Quetzalcoatlus and its contemporaries would be if they existed in the real world, the giant Phorahocus that existed during the very early years of the hominids before its gradual extinction was no less terrifying.
I was told a bird of that size could't fly today, because it needed more air pressure for it's size and wing span. So there's a theory that ancient days the air was denser.
That's an interesting theory. I know that at different times in Earth's history we've had more or less CO2, among other things probably. I'm not sure if that would affect it, but perhaps different atmosphere makeups could have affected the density.
I heard a different reason. Birds use different muscles to walk, fly, and take off. This means that at all times the u have muscles that are doing nothing and are basically dead weight. Pterosaurs used the same muscles so they didn't have any dead weight, and could therefore get larger.
A bird that size definitely could NEVER fly. The reason is that if you look at birds you'll see their bodies are "chubbier" compared to pterosaurs', and their way of taking off and flying is completely different.
@@nogoodgod4915 its bones are so delicate they were likely hollow like a birds. Study the skeletons of pelicans and loons. I think we are likely wrong about them being reptiles.They were warm blooded. They may have had feathers like it's though some dinosaurs did.
@@thudar9 Have you ever heard of convergent evolution? It's the process where animals independently evolve similar traits. Look at dolphins and sharks with their similar builds but one is a fish and the other is a mammal. Plus they don't have feathers, I think what they have is pycnofibers not feathers. It's not surprising at all that birds evolved similar traits to the best and largest flyers the animal kingdom has ever seen. Edit to say: They were definitively not birds. Plus, about feathers for dinosaurs you say: "like it's though some dinosaurs did." but it's not really thought that they may have feathers, it's a proven fact that they did have feathers. Not all of them tho.
Why the heck are your two videos' views so low, these videos slap. The yt algorithm straight up just ignored you. I liked the video and subscribed to help with the algorithm and hopefully this comment will help with it too
He talked about the findings of this creature in 1971. That is so true because I reading about it in my Weekly Reader from school! I was in the first grade at the time.
Great video Zoo! (Gotta remember too, there was an inland sea during that time and I bet they flew and could glide very long distances and I'm sure there were a number of lakes and streams they inhabited as well. I bet they hunted in all kinds of different ways, we'll just have to wait and hope new fossils give us a better look into how these animals lived and died. Keep up the amazing work! Love the content you produce! ❤
They don't look right. Just something about the giant beak and the strange wings that fold in the front. It looks so surreal as compared to the dinosaurs we're used to seeing as kids. I saw a model for one of those when I went to the Six Flags Frightfest (a part of Xpedition Dinosaur) and seeing it at night, so imposingly tall and with the oddly shaped frame, genuinely sent shivers down my spine. I can't imagine those beings walking around.
Quetzalcoatlus takeoff at 4:24 is totally ridiculous! Big modern birds (e.g., trumpeter swans) have to run on land or water (like airplanes) for about 50 meters before they can take off. The Quetzalcoatlus had to run as well, but its anatomy made it impossible to run on land. Apparently, it somehow was able to run on water.
In my opinion these creatures are an example of evolutionary adaptation so exquisite as to provide a niche to thrive in. I say this because the Quetzalcoatlus had to be extremely vulnerable to attack by a host of predators. Whatever their environment consisted of had to be relatively safe. Just a superficial examination confirms a rational conclusion that these Pterosaurs did not just browse anywhere. Their frames were light weight and not meant to ward off predators. Their huge size and lightweight frame constitute a specialized creature used to being out of reach for carnivores generally. Though their hollow bones comprised a lightweight body, I don't see them taking wing from a standing position. Again, very vulnerable. It doesn't look right and stretches the rational. Their environs were most likely on grand cliff faces where a simple thrust could send them soaring. The limbs were suited to climbing up and nesting or drying off on the cliff face, not for carelessly alighting upon an open field or anywhere they could be taken easily. Specialization at its summit. The time it took to provide an animal such as this seems to point towards thousands and millions of years in uninterrupted development to achieve this supreme outcome. One of so many.
Actually Quetzlcoatlus made a living as a passenger jet for early humanoids who’d offer up the most unpopular relatives or clan members in return for a quick ride down the hunting circuit. Since these people were fiercely competitive, for a long period of time Quetzlcoatlus made a fat living off this, which, however came to an abrupt ending with the invention of the giant deepfryer giving rise to a brief but vigorous period of excessive binge eating parties causing Quetzlcoatlus to regrettably go the way of the Dodo, but with fries. I say brief because this branch of human development had not considered how reliant they had actually become upon the Quetzlcoatlus infracstructure (which still stands out as a major revolution in transportation to traffic theorists, far outreaching the introduction of the horse in North America). Consequently these early hunter/gatherers were, in turn, quickly wiped out by hunger, and the inability to easily get rid of annoying persons within a socially acceptable framework, both of which, it has been hypthesised, ultimately lead to unchecked cannibalism NOT governed by the shortest straw principle (or in fact any other principles). “Aah but humanoids did not exist at the time and certainly not as organised groups of hunter/gatherers” I hear some of you muttering in the back, but there is a simple explanation to this which is that their skeletons were purely made of cartilage (which would have made “The Merchant of Venice” virtually incomprehensible to them, had it been available as light in-flight reading), which means they were all processed and digested during the horrific cannibalistic wind-down, as they effectively consumed all evidence of their own existence. The remains of the last man standing would have been lost to posterity if not for the fact that he ran into this astronomically unlikely amber incident. I was on the dig that unearthed the motherfucker from my back yard and he was caught in the act by the massive golden blob, wearing a Quetzlcoatlus feather hat while munching eagerly on a wiggly human femur. An elaborate hoax some will likely claim, but I ask in return - where is Quetzlcoatlus today? Hmm? At your local convenience store, perchance? Evolved into a Pretzelcoatlus snack? I think not. Further: word is that having critically reviewed the popular “jurassic park” franchise it is now rumoured that Kentucky Fried chicken has been buying up inordinate amounts of vast food grade steel tubs and are conducting dark genetic experimentation in the vaults under a remote company abode under the codename “Kentucky Fried Park”. “Show us the amber blob then”, you’ll say. I can’t. I sold most of it to 40+year-old ladies with red dyed hair, dark green scarves and a penchant for pilates and hobbyist jewelry making. The remaining bits I traded for buckets and buckets of crispy chicken wings over a period of time, and now, like the early humanoids I am ironically left with nothing.
@@bowenmadden6122 Yeah - as does the Italian crowd favourite AperolSpritzlcoatlus and the somewhat undeservedly lesser known Viennese Schnitzelcoatlus (On the other hand - like Fight Club - we don’t …talk …about … the wholly unpalatable Fritzlcoatlus, or indeed the thoroughly unpopular Russian Spetznatzcoatlus).
Its the arms were what made it easy to take off from the ground, like bats do today. Thats how pterosaurs were able to get large. So this whole thing about it jumping with it legs is kinda silly.
I love how they show these animals ripping through stuff with their claws and their faces like yeah I don't know of any animal that would use it to face to rip open an airplane
I would tend to agree with the school that thinks they may have been to heavy to actually "fly", but powerful gliders, who might soar close to the ground in search of prey.
Mass over size👍🏻 we humans have a thing for the “biggest ever”. Some people doesn’t realize we live with the largest animal ever right now. Weighing twice as much as any 🦕 did. 🐋
A new theory says that they used to fly in a V formation and their descendants are geese who still believe they’re as large as F-16s and can face down any T-rex that comes their way. 😅
It seems to me that in those days the atmosphere was thicker and also most of the continents were together in the same area and this caused coastal monsoons and coastal winds which the large flyers used to mostly glide.
I've heard that the Triassic had a potentially thicker atmosphere but the Cretaceous was probably not significantly much more than today, in terms of flight. I have heard there was more oxygen, primarily in the ocean but probably also the atmosphere, making powered flight less exhausting & enabling larger animals to exist overall. I'm unsure how people know that though. 😅
@@bowenmadden6122 birds and probably dinosaurs have/had more efficient lungs enabling flight and large sizes and birds and probably dinosaurs have/had lighter stronger bones enabling flight and large sizes.
7:10 This video gives me uncanny valley feelings. They weirdly look to much like humans there, like some freaky skinny praying giants making eye contact for too long.
I agree and the way they walk around on the ground is also very creepy. Like they don’t look like they should be able to do that. They freak me out a little.
There is just something about this creature that looks so out of place on the ground, like it had to have the ability to fold its wing entirely behind its back like some birds. It looks clunky as hell on the ground as it is pictured.
Is it possible that, millennia ago, someone may have dug up some of these fossilized bones and, attempting to explain them, created the concept of dragons 🐉?
Honestly I don't think so. Most myths with dragons don't call the creature a "dragon". It wouldn't be until much later when people grouped many big, flying, reptilian creatures of myth into the concept of dragons. Ancient people probably wouldn't have found a complete skeleton without a deliberate archeology dig, too, and it wasn't until much later when people deduced that they were winged with membranes of skin, reptilian, & could fly. Before then, people probably would've assumed giant beak fossil = giant feathered bird. Maybe they saw giant bones & wondered about giant monsters of the past, but I doubt they knew pterosaurs specifically had existed.
Because form follows function, I would have to agree with the theory that it lived in hunted much like storks do today. I still wonder how I could fly with such a long neck and large head. I would tend to think that it didn't fly long distances, but rather used its wings to hop and fly short distances to scout for food, ambush prey, as well as to escape predators.
The wings of the Hatzegopteryx were studied and they could probably fly, but they weren't very agile in the air. They most likely hunted on the ground and only flew for transportation, I'm assuming Quetzalcoatlus would be similar.
The fossil record shows oxygen was higher in the past. Even with SMALL wings a creature would have been able to take flight- dragonflies in the fossil record are 4 foot wingspans. It would have been a FEARFUL thing to see in flight I’m sure.
Obviously, from almost all the comments, this thing scares the daylights out of most of us! To me, it looks like it should have been happy in the air. Take off seems difficult.
I knew I should have become a paleontologist - not only would it look cool on a business card, you get to make it up as you go along, secure in the knowledge that no-one is going to dig up photos from 30 million years ago.
I think hatz is scarier because quetzalquatles was a fish eater and ate only ate small prey so it didn’t need a stalkier build like hatz did and hatz was a apex predator on a island of dwarf Dino’s called hateg island so hatz could deal more damage and strike and fight more aggressively and also it hunted animals the size of us further backing up the fact it was strong and it would be glad to eat us as a meal if its hungry.
The casual assumption that an adult QN could fly is prepostorous. While I love the idea that it could have flown, I know too much about aeronautical engineering and physics to agree with this assumption. What's more feasible is that the young MAY have been able to fly, or simply that they had evolved into a niche far beyond where flight was useful or necessary. What does QN eat? Whatever it wants. Who eats QN? Nobody. Why not talk about how ostriches, cassowaries, emus, penguins, kiwis, and other flighless birds are able to fly?
" North America " ?? Can you update the video to say there was no land mass , it was in 2 sections 170-65+ million years ago . Laramidia(west) and Appalachia (East)
Could it be that the Earths atmosphere was easier to fly through back then? Oxygen levels are theorized to be as much as 25% possibly more. Could that have any bearing on the way the creatures evolved to fly?
@@antreasAnimations Yes. The reason is they had special adaptations to get that big. The only other animals that had the same adaptations are the Therapod dinosaurs and they are by far the largest Terrestrial carnivores ever despite being Bipedal
Why don’t you get to think and make a suggestion creating another RUclips Videos Shows that’s all about the Amphicyons (Bear Dogs) on the next Extinct Zoo coming up next?!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👍👍👍
He forgot to mention a MINOR detail, that the atmosphere was way different back then. The air had a concentration of 35% oxygen and an atmospheric pressure of 3.2 to 4.8 bars. Unlivable for humans.
Even an albatross, which weighs 10 to 16 pounds, requires an elevated platform with wind gusts or a running head start to gain an initial lift. And something as heavy as the Quetzal could not have been able to land and take off at will.
I like to think it used the ground effect and would “skim” over land, and occasionally water, looking for small creatures to eat. I don’t think it’s bulk could rise too high. Not like it’s depicted in tv and film. Maybe just over the tree tops with effort.
Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx have got to be some of the most bizarre animals to ever exist. Im pretty sure that nothing on earth today would be as surreal as seeing an F-15 sized bird-looking bird thing take off.
The name alone is scary, sounds like some Aztec deity
Prehistory was hell on Earth. I believe it will get pretty old pretty fast seeing those beasts, not to mention bus sized demon lizards... Bruh... Even the not so distant past was full of radical beasts, like 20k years ago. Conveniently we live maybe in the least monster filled time in human history. And our civilisation rose when the giga beasts started disappearing. Like 15 ton elephants...
@@kyachdistent1301 Nah, we aren't the cause of the extinction of those monster species. The end of ice age made them die. Having your views is unhealthy pal. I know they hold truth in them, but still they are unhealthy for you. The truth they hold is from nature's perspective, and nature doesn't give a flying f, cuz its non sentient. Nature is murdering us all as well. We aren't eternal. It was nature that want us dead actually, not us specifically wanting nature dead. 😂
Imagine one being ridden by a Chalicotherium, Star Wars style! That would be bizarre...
@@kyachdistent1301 Whatever. Im probably way eco friendly than your whining self.
What a phenomenally interesting planet this is and has been
it's about to get weird
How little we know about our own planet
It’s could be, it’s proposed to be, it’s possible it is, one theory proposed says it could be possible
@@thedropbear574ah, a drop bear! Are you still learning English my fellow non-human or is that another language?
Dude Earth is nothing. We have one of the least interesting ecologies, what I think is actually the smallest kingdom of animals, and humans are definitely the most unintelligent of all the planets in the cosmic federation. Earth itself is a rather unremarkable planet for its age.
We humans are so far behind in technology and cultural advancement compared to the other planets in the cosmic federation, and most of their planets are far younger. It took far longer for our environment to select for higher intelligence than the other side planets’ species which gained conscientiousness.
I think probably the most studied planet we have the best data on is planet 419. This is the home planet of the Kanassans who evolved for intelligence after a mere 150 million years. By the time humanity was even starting to evolve enough sentience to begin using tools, the Kanassans had already developed a sort of future sight their cognitive capabilities had become so advanced.
Planet 419 is one of the most powerful, advanced planets in the cosmic federation so it’s an interesting benchmark to use for Earth. Anyways just thought I’d contribute a bit to the discussion even if I’m a bit late.
I think most people don’t really put a lot of time into studying other planets, but I must say I think it’s quite an interesting and rewarding subject. Do any of you feel like Earth has any unique advantages over any of the other planets in the cosmic federation? I’m curious about everyone else’s impressions.
"However this flightless hypothesis never really got off the ground."
Ahem.....I'll see myself out.
Quetzalcoatlus is one of the few prehistoric animals I am genuinely scared of. Most other prehistoric animals I just find beautiful or interesting, like most modern animals.
This thing would of been terrifying I sometimes think if it was still alive and toddlers were left unattended this thing could just scoop them up with their beaks and swallow them then just take off like nothing happened
@@elmochomo8218 pelicans can do that that. now a Quetzalcoatlus could probably devour a shaq with ease.
Especially a beefier and with an even bigger skull Hatzegopteryx. That thing would probably swallow shaq like a snack
@@Makabert.Abylon the same thing would happen to a bear except that the perpetrator would be trex
@@elmochomo8218 If it had a fine sense of smell, would find the smell of humans puzzling and ignore them. If it had great eyesight it would see something weird and dismiss it as not important. Animals tend not to eat what they don't understand.
As absolutely beautiful as this Pterosaur was... there's also something about it that absolutely gives me the creeps! As amazing as it would have been to see, not sure I'd wanna come face to face with one. Great work. Awesome video!
I'm sure. Hard pass!
They would ignore you. They would have no idea what you were and shut you out like noise.
@@ejtattersall156 Maybe they would try to eat a human. Seeing it as another small mammal to snack on.
@@goldensaurus It depends if they are opportunistic--see something move, eat it--or specialized--see x, y or z species, eat it, ignore all else. Lions ignore baboons. Lions will kill other predators, but will not eat them. Baboons and other predators fall outside of x, y and z. Will they eat them if forced by hunger? Sure, but they are not disposed
to doing so. When I was traveling in Africa, I learned that lions almost never attack humans. The exception is almost always a starving male driven into a village out of desperation because he has been driven from a pride. You don't want to put yourself in a position where you will get attacked by a lion, but they will attack for fun or out of fear, but it is rare. Humans fall outside of the x, y, z parameters for lions, so as a general rule, lions do not hunt humans. Bears, however, will attack and eat just about anything. So will crocodiles. Alligators will not. Crocodiles and bears are more broadly opportunistic. We can never know what a prehistoric animal ate, nor can we know what sort of creature they may have been, opportunistic, or specific. Assuming they would eat humans is interesting to think about, and the idea that they would completely ignore us is boring, but either could be the case. I think more often than not, that they would ignore us. Humans tend to put themselves at the center of things, at the center of the solar system, at the center of life. Historically it was believed we were the center of the universe and life. Science has disproven these things, but we still feel like we are very important. Feeling a prehistoric animal would find us important is a bit egoistic, or at least an unscientific assumption
Can we just take a second to think about how there’s a pterosaur that look at a T-Rex at eye level?
Truly magnificent and terrifying at the same time.
@@kyachdistent1301 are you ok?
its way taller than trex
you mean that the trex looked up at
@@kyachdistent1301 T.Rex was indeed smaller. It was 4m at the hip while Quetz was about 5 or 6m tall
Dinosaurs were probably way cooler looking with exotic colors, and were probably even more scarier than we can imagine! If only we had a time machine .
Yep. Some paleontologists even believe they were feathered and, thus, were the progenitors of birds. Not a particularly widely accepted theory, though.
@@GaryR55 I believe most if not all paleontologists know dinosaurs were the progenitors of birds. Or did you mean just your first part?
@@Nic-ye2yz pterosaurs are not dinosaurs
Edit: ah nevermind.. the original comment doesn't mention pterosaur
@@GaryR55It is very widely accepted, not only that but birds ARE dinosaurs. We also have conclusive proof that some ancient dinosaurs did have feathers, although some also didn't.
@@GaryR55Birds are dinosaurs, dude…
One of my favorite prehistoric animals!
4:10 you got this wrong- it's BIRDS that use the hind legs to leap in to the air, this is in contrast to how the most terrrestrial microbats and pterosaurs do it- by pushing off from the back but more importantly, using their massively muscled FRONT limbs as pole vaults to get aloft
This is even the key reason why they could grow so large. Birds are limited by the fact that they need enough breast muscles to fly plus enough leg muscles to get off the ground while Pterosaurs uses the same muscles for both flight, ground movement and getting off the ground. This is also why there is no reason for Pterosaurs to evolve away flight.
@@znail4675 Yes, it's indirect evidence against the flightless theory.
For as large and terrifying as this monster might have looked, could you believe that it only weighed an estimated 440 - 550 pounds?
It has to take of somehow😂
I could believe it. It has to fly so it can't weigh too much.
Its body was relatively small and it had thin hollow bones. That is why it probably did fly.
Like Kevin Durant
Recent estimates actually give Hatzegopteryx a shorter yet stockier skull, with a modest length of 5 - 6 feet long; which actually seems to benefit its Apex Predator lifestyle.
arent skulls found instead of estimated?
@Love Bean Not entire skulls, just fragments & pieces.
This thing would have been *amazing* to see gliding across the sky!
I know that if the dinosaurs were still around, we probably wouldn't be here but part of me is quite sad that they're no longer around.
Just a feeling of melancholy - that we'll never see a stegosaurus or triceratops stomping around.
That we'll never see pterosaurs gliding around.
I agree. It would be amazing to see what they truly looked like and I'm sure it would be awesome but terrifying to see a Iarge pterosaur flying overhead.
Pretty interesting...it would be remarkable to actually see one of these things flying. They must have taken advantage of thermal rise near mountains at least in some circumstances to stay in the air, and with that huge wingspan, and enough height they could certainly go a pretty good distance before needing a place to land.
big flapper
Flappy bird
As big and intimidating as Quetzalcoatlus and its contemporaries would be if they existed in the real world, the giant Phorahocus that existed during the very early years of the hominids before its gradual extinction was no less terrifying.
Yeah Idk what phorahocus is I tried searching it up but it keeps autocorrecting to pharoahs instead
@@lenosflarrethedragonking4300 It's a species of terror bird.
Their world was not real, how interesting.
@allanmontescasana1097 Ah makes sense
Google Phorusrhacos instead. 💕
I was told a bird of that size could't fly today, because it needed more air pressure for it's size and wing span. So there's a theory that ancient days the air was denser.
That's an interesting theory. I know that at different times in Earth's history we've had more or less CO2, among other things probably. I'm not sure if that would affect it, but perhaps different atmosphere makeups could have affected the density.
I heard a different reason. Birds use different muscles to walk, fly, and take off. This means that at all times the u have muscles that are doing nothing and are basically dead weight. Pterosaurs used the same muscles so they didn't have any dead weight, and could therefore get larger.
A bird that size definitely could NEVER fly. The reason is that if you look at birds you'll see their bodies are "chubbier" compared to pterosaurs', and their way of taking off and flying is completely different.
this mini documentary is very well done :)
Its difficult to imagine that Quetzalcoatlus wasn't a sea bird since it bears a resemblance to cranes, herons, and pelicans.
Agreed. It strikes me as a creature of long flight over the sea.
It wasn't a bird at all
@@marco3dartist my thoughts exactly
@@nogoodgod4915 its bones are so delicate they were likely hollow like a birds. Study the skeletons of pelicans and loons. I think we are likely wrong about them being reptiles.They were warm blooded. They may have had feathers like it's though some dinosaurs did.
@@thudar9 Have you ever heard of convergent evolution? It's the process where animals independently evolve similar traits. Look at dolphins and sharks with their similar builds but one is a fish and the other is a mammal.
Plus they don't have feathers, I think what they have is pycnofibers not feathers.
It's not surprising at all that birds evolved similar traits to the best and largest flyers the animal kingdom has ever seen.
Edit to say: They were definitively not birds.
Plus, about feathers for dinosaurs you say: "like it's though some dinosaurs did." but it's not really thought that they may have feathers, it's a proven fact that they did have feathers. Not all of them tho.
Thanks, I feel like a child in awe watching these.
Why the heck are your two videos' views so low, these videos slap. The yt algorithm straight up just ignored you.
I liked the video and subscribed to help with the algorithm and hopefully this comment will help with it too
Even the largest flying birds are only half the size of this giant flyers.
And even longer and thinner wings compared to the animal itself. It wouldn’t look half the size of a Quetzalcoatlus
I like how the thumbnail is an artwork from the Jurassic World Alive game 👍
They remind me so much of the herons I see at my pond, I can see them hunting really similarly.
Oh lord!quetzalcoatlus were the size of planes!
I wish I was around to see one
He talked about the findings of this creature in 1971. That is so true because I reading about it in my Weekly Reader from school! I was in the first grade at the time.
Great video Zoo! (Gotta remember too, there was an inland sea during that time and I bet they flew and could glide very long distances and I'm sure there were a number of lakes and streams they inhabited as well. I bet they hunted in all kinds of different ways, we'll just have to wait and hope new fossils give us a better look into how these animals lived and died. Keep up the amazing work! Love the content you produce! ❤
The flightless hypothesis never gained any wings. *GETTIT?* haha
Beautiful pterosaurs they were
I'm just gonna patiently wait for my favorite Dino the nigersaurus
They don't look right. Just something about the giant beak and the strange wings that fold in the front. It looks so surreal as compared to the dinosaurs we're used to seeing as kids. I saw a model for one of those when I went to the Six Flags Frightfest (a part of Xpedition Dinosaur) and seeing it at night, so imposingly tall and with the oddly shaped frame, genuinely sent shivers down my spine. I can't imagine those beings walking around.
Quetzalcoatlus takeoff at 4:24 is totally ridiculous! Big modern birds (e.g., trumpeter swans) have to run on land or water (like airplanes) for about 50 meters before they can take off. The Quetzalcoatlus had to run as well, but its anatomy made it impossible to run on land. Apparently, it somehow was able to run on water.
Yes, it is absurd because it's a poorly reconstructed depiction of how it flew. You can find better simulations of pterosaur flight online.
Please do stegosaurus next!! 🙏🙏🙏
In my opinion these creatures are an example of evolutionary adaptation so exquisite as to provide a niche to thrive in. I say this because the Quetzalcoatlus had to be extremely vulnerable to attack by a host of predators. Whatever their environment consisted of had to be relatively safe.
Just a superficial examination confirms a rational conclusion that these Pterosaurs did not just browse anywhere. Their frames were light weight and not meant to ward off predators. Their huge size and lightweight frame constitute a specialized creature used to being out of reach for carnivores generally.
Though their hollow bones comprised a lightweight body, I don't see them taking wing from a standing position. Again, very vulnerable. It doesn't look right and stretches the rational. Their environs were most likely on grand cliff faces where a simple thrust could send them soaring. The limbs were suited to climbing up and nesting or drying off on the cliff face, not for carelessly alighting upon an open field or anywhere they could be taken easily.
Specialization at its summit. The time it took to provide an animal such as this seems to point towards thousands and millions of years in uninterrupted development to achieve this supreme outcome.
One of so many.
Actually Quetzlcoatlus made a living as a passenger jet for early humanoids who’d offer up the most unpopular relatives or clan members in return for a quick ride down the hunting circuit.
Since these people were fiercely competitive, for a long period of time Quetzlcoatlus made a fat living off this, which, however came to an abrupt ending with the invention of the giant deepfryer giving rise to a brief but vigorous period of excessive binge eating parties causing Quetzlcoatlus to regrettably go the way of the Dodo, but with fries.
I say brief because this branch of human development had not considered how reliant they had actually become upon the Quetzlcoatlus infracstructure (which still stands out as a major revolution in transportation to traffic theorists, far outreaching the introduction of the horse in North America).
Consequently these early hunter/gatherers were, in turn, quickly wiped out by hunger, and the inability to easily get rid of annoying persons within a socially acceptable framework, both of which, it has been hypthesised, ultimately lead to unchecked cannibalism NOT governed by the shortest straw principle (or in fact any other principles).
“Aah but humanoids did not exist at the time and certainly not as organised groups of hunter/gatherers” I hear some of you muttering in the back, but there is a simple explanation to this which is that their skeletons were purely made of cartilage (which would have made “The Merchant of Venice” virtually incomprehensible to them, had it been available as light in-flight reading), which means they were all processed and digested during the horrific cannibalistic wind-down, as they effectively consumed all evidence of their own existence.
The remains of the last man standing would have been lost to posterity if not for the fact that he ran into this astronomically unlikely amber incident. I was on the dig that unearthed the motherfucker from my back yard and he was caught in the act by the massive golden blob, wearing a Quetzlcoatlus feather hat while munching eagerly on a wiggly human femur.
An elaborate hoax some will likely claim, but I ask in return - where is Quetzlcoatlus today? Hmm? At your local convenience store, perchance? Evolved into a Pretzelcoatlus snack? I think not.
Further: word is that having critically reviewed the popular “jurassic park” franchise it is now rumoured that Kentucky Fried chicken has been buying up inordinate amounts of vast food grade steel tubs and are conducting dark genetic experimentation in the vaults under a remote company abode under the codename “Kentucky Fried Park”.
“Show us the amber blob then”, you’ll say. I can’t. I sold most of it to 40+year-old ladies with red dyed hair, dark green scarves and a penchant for pilates and hobbyist jewelry making. The remaining bits I traded for buckets and buckets of crispy chicken wings over a period of time, and now, like the early humanoids I am ironically left with nothing.
@@kyachdistent1301 Edge lord.
@@kyachdistent1301 Let’s start now - give me all your stuff!
@@kyachdistent1301 It was true at the time I wrote it😤
Pretzelcoatlus *needs* to be a real snack lol.
@@bowenmadden6122 Yeah - as does the Italian crowd favourite AperolSpritzlcoatlus and the somewhat undeservedly lesser known Viennese Schnitzelcoatlus (On the other hand - like Fight Club - we don’t …talk …about … the wholly unpalatable Fritzlcoatlus, or indeed the thoroughly unpopular Russian Spetznatzcoatlus).
This is what pelicans see themselves as
Its the arms were what made it easy to take off from the ground, like bats do today. Thats how pterosaurs were able to get large. So this whole thing about it jumping with it legs is kinda silly.
Look at a Pelican -says it all
imagine a flying girafe ... this animal was huge , i would love to see in real life how he took off and fly
A horrifying, but amazing creature. Thank you for this great video!👍
I love how they show these animals ripping through stuff with their claws and their faces like yeah I don't know of any animal that would use it to face to rip open an airplane
God I wish I could see one of these in real life 😭
It drives me mad that it’s impossible
This is the most OP heron bird I have ever seen LOL
Crazy, and amazing.
I would tend to agree with the school that thinks they may have been to heavy to actually "fly", but powerful gliders, who might soar close to the ground in search of prey.
Quetzalcoatus might be the largest animal in America but the real largest flying animal was hatzegopteryx
Mass over size👍🏻 we humans have a thing for the “biggest ever”.
Some people doesn’t realize we live with the largest animal ever right now. Weighing twice as much as any 🦕 did. 🐋
Could the atmosphere have been denser back then? That would have helped it to fly.
combined with wind and Mountains of the Triassic continents . They say there vegetation spread from south to north poles en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangaea
@@Rusty_Gold85This is the Cretaceous, not the Triassic. Those are completely different times.
you missed the opportunity to say "the flightless quetzalcoatlus theory" never really flew.
Yeah, it was just unable to take off.
Amazing! Where have these dinosaurs been filmed??
I like this video👍😊🦕🦖
I do love all dinosaurs ❤
It’s not a dinosaur tho
A new theory says that they used to fly in a V formation and their descendants are geese who still believe they’re as large as F-16s and can face down any T-rex that comes their way. 😅
Largest to rule north America? I think it was the largest to rule ZA WARUDO!
Nope, Hatzegopterix was ZA WARUDO
Good vid. I wonder if another variety of this animal will be discovered---Quetzalcoatl Boeingus.
It seems to me that in those days the atmosphere was thicker and also most of the continents were together in the same area and this caused coastal monsoons and coastal winds which the large flyers used to mostly glide.
The continents were mostly in the same places they are in today.
@@kade-qt1zu There's tons of evidence that prove otherwise, it's definitely worth looking into.
I've heard that the Triassic had a potentially thicker atmosphere but the Cretaceous was probably not significantly much more than today, in terms of flight.
I have heard there was more oxygen, primarily in the ocean but probably also the atmosphere, making powered flight less exhausting & enabling larger animals to exist overall. I'm unsure how people know that though. 😅
@@bowenmadden6122 birds and probably dinosaurs have/had more efficient lungs enabling flight and large sizes and birds and probably dinosaurs have/had lighter stronger bones enabling flight and large sizes.
of course they could fly , if they couldn't fly their wings wouldn't have evolved to be so huge
They are the scariest to me...especially how their wings are folded when not in use....fkn scary AF
A gigantic stork or heron makes the most sense.
Storks and Cranes and Herons are incredible predators. This thing was one scary Beast.
The heaviest flying animal in existence currently weighs 40 lbs. How big would the wings of an Ostrich have to be for it to be able to take flight.
I still agree with the theory of it gliding on air thermals like the albatross
Quetz is the prehistoric equivalent of a giant heron aka *The Lord Of The Skies*
Hope y'all are had a great day
Whether or not if it could fly, still a very scary and amazing creature. But it could never pick up a grown adult man. And fly away.
We didn't have these dinosaur toys in the 90's
7:10 This video gives me uncanny valley feelings. They weirdly look to much like humans there, like some freaky skinny praying giants making eye contact for too long.
I agree and the way they walk around on the ground is also very creepy. Like they don’t look like they should be able to do that. They freak me out a little.
Best channel.
Imagine what other kinds there were considered 99% of extinct animals we won't find there fossils
There is just something about this creature that looks so out of place on the ground, like it had to have the ability to fold its wing entirely behind its back like some birds. It looks clunky as hell on the ground as it is pictured.
Is it possible that, millennia ago, someone may have dug up some of these fossilized bones and, attempting to explain them, created the concept of dragons 🐉?
Absolutely. Probably, in fact. That’s probably why most cultures have “dragons”
@@funwithfish1507 Cept where does the fire-breathing come from...?
definitely they must be the basis of Chinese folklore
@@philcoombes2538Good question, I have no odea
Honestly I don't think so. Most myths with dragons don't call the creature a "dragon". It wouldn't be until much later when people grouped many big, flying, reptilian creatures of myth into the concept of dragons.
Ancient people probably wouldn't have found a complete skeleton without a deliberate archeology dig, too, and it wasn't until much later when people deduced that they were winged with membranes of skin, reptilian, & could fly. Before then, people probably would've assumed giant beak fossil = giant feathered bird. Maybe they saw giant bones & wondered about giant monsters of the past, but I doubt they knew pterosaurs specifically had existed.
DUUUDE! Missed opportunity alert - "This flightless hypothesis never really TOOK OFF THE GROUND" 3:13
at that time it was an arduous problem to have a pterosaur in a cage
Fascinating! 🦖❤🦕
Can we please make some artwork and created footage of FEATHERED PTEROSAURS PLEASE!
Quetzalcoatlus is straight out of a horror movie I swear it's gotta be in a horror movie somewhere
This was the king of the North American skies.
Because form follows function, I would have to agree with the theory that it lived in hunted much like storks do today. I still wonder how I could fly with such a long neck and large head. I would tend to think that it didn't fly long distances, but rather used its wings to hop and fly short distances to scout for food, ambush prey, as well as to escape predators.
The wings of the Hatzegopteryx were studied and they could probably fly, but they weren't very agile in the air. They most likely hunted on the ground and only flew for transportation, I'm assuming Quetzalcoatlus would be similar.
Dinosaurs probably had a blast!
I couldn't help but notice that you sound similar to Othais from C&Rsenal.
And they both kind of sound like a lower-pitched Kermit The Frog.
The fossil record shows oxygen was higher in the past. Even with SMALL wings a creature would have been able to take flight- dragonflies in the fossil record are 4 foot wingspans. It would have been a FEARFUL thing to see in flight I’m sure.
I think it mainly ate tacos.
Great video thank you! I saw a lifesize realistic model of one of these, it was awe inspiring!
Obviously, from almost all the comments, this thing scares the daylights out of most of us! To me, it looks like it should have been happy in the air. Take off seems difficult.
Oh yeah, I've seen one of those on the Flintstones!
He couldn't fly but he sure could do a good glide. He lived surely in mountain terrain
They probably could actually fully fly.
I cannot imagine a predator that large actually flying. Perhaps for the best..
Terrifying creature regardless
Things like this just make think there is way more to evolution than we can conceive. Robin Witting England
I knew I should have become a paleontologist - not only would it look cool on a business card, you get to make it up as you go along, secure in the knowledge that no-one is going to dig up photos from 30 million years ago.
I think hatz is scarier because quetzalquatles was a fish eater and ate only ate small prey so it didn’t need a stalkier build like hatz did and hatz was a apex predator on a island of dwarf Dino’s called hateg island so hatz could deal more damage and strike and fight more aggressively and also it hunted animals the size of us further backing up the fact it was strong and it would be glad to eat us as a meal if its hungry.
The casual assumption that an adult QN could fly is prepostorous. While I love the idea that it could have flown, I know too much about aeronautical engineering and physics to agree with this assumption. What's more feasible is that the young MAY have been able to fly, or simply that they had evolved into a niche far beyond where flight was useful or necessary. What does QN eat? Whatever it wants. Who eats QN? Nobody. Why not talk about how ostriches, cassowaries, emus, penguins, kiwis, and other flighless birds are able to fly?
" North America " ?? Can you update the video to say there was no land mass , it was in 2 sections 170-65+ million years ago . Laramidia(west) and Appalachia (East)
Could it be that the Earths atmosphere was easier to fly through back then? Oxygen levels are theorized to be as much as 25% possibly more. Could that have any bearing on the way the creatures evolved to fly?
Oxygen was actually slightly less back then.
@@AgroAcrowith organisms of that size?
@@antreasAnimations Yes. The reason is they had special adaptations to get that big. The only other animals that had the same adaptations are the Therapod dinosaurs and they are by far the largest Terrestrial carnivores ever despite being Bipedal
Why don’t you get to think and make a suggestion creating another RUclips Videos Shows that’s all about the Amphicyons (Bear Dogs) on the next Extinct Zoo coming up next?!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👍👍👍
Big congratulations
He forgot to mention a MINOR detail, that the atmosphere was way different back then. The air had a concentration of 35% oxygen and an atmospheric pressure of 3.2 to 4.8 bars. Unlivable for humans.
Its oxygen was more like 19%, which is less than it nowadays.
source?
Even if these creatures did not fly, it still could glide and dive onto prey, with a beak strong enough to take out anything it came across.
"Estimations were revised down to *only* 30 foot wingspan"
I am quite happy it is extinct.
Even an albatross, which weighs 10 to 16 pounds, requires an elevated platform with wind gusts or a running head start to gain an initial lift.
And something as heavy as the Quetzal could not have been able to land and take off at will.
could you guys imagine if us humans extinguished tigers from gorgonopsids in stuff
I like to think it used the ground effect and would “skim” over land, and occasionally water, looking for small creatures to eat. I don’t think it’s bulk could rise too high. Not like it’s depicted in tv and film. Maybe just over the tree tops with effort.
Ooohhhhh! TORUK MAKTO!
Somehow the quetzalcoatlus resembles a prehistoric SR-71 😅
Where does the confusion about wingspan come from? Are there no skeletons to measure?
They are probably very fragmentary.
INTERESTING!