When a Giant Pterosaur Ruled the European Islands
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- Опубликовано: 14 мар 2022
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The ecological niche of apex predators was empty on Hateg Island, waiting to be occupied by something large, mobile, and powerful enough to fill it.
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Would you guys considering having just a regular old download link with just an audio file?
I loved the first episode. Very well done.
Subscriber! Thanks 🙏
I'm very hard of hearing, is there anyway to get a text of the podcast? I only watch videos that have close caption, else I have no idea what is being said.
Someone knows if it will be available on amazon soon?
The idea of a 6m long animal being a 'dwarf' is hilarious. And the idea of something as heavy as a bear and as tall as a giraffe flying will never cease to blow my tiny human brain.
just imagine if flying bears with bat wings were a real thing in current times XD
@@kanrup5199 Then "vampires" would be real. 😱
I really want to see a life sized model of this sometime. If not IRL then definitely in VR.
@@danielwhyatt3278 I thought Friday night at Freddie’s was scary
and the idea that we are closer in time to t-rex than t-rex was to the triassic or t-rex to stegosaurus
I love the size comparisons you guys do with the host. Really helps make these animals feel more real and tangible.
same, it's a great way to do size comparisons
@@danielkorladis7869 Unless they got freakishly disproportionately tall/short hosts 😂
What’s her size?
Yes. When you just tell people numbers, yeah we can imagine how big that is, but normal people don’t go around thinking about how long/tall/wide a foot/meter is. So we know it’s big, but how big gets lost. But when you compare it to people, well I have an idea of how tall people are bc I see them every day. I don’t need to know how tall any of the hosts are exactly for the visual comparison to be as impactful
6:27 I thought the same thing, but I wonder if it was done right tho. She said its skull is about 3m in size. Guessing her as tall human with 1.8m in height, the skull seems about her size here, not much bigger than this, so the animal is probably small here?
Prehistoric islands always produce some of the most interesting animals and ecosystems ever discovered, but one ancient island in particular had an extraordinary effect on not just its own life but the entire world's too. Could you guys do an "When India was an island" video at some point Eons? India's island history lasted throughout the Mesozoic and at least half of the Cenozoic and its collision with Eurasia was a fundamental force that shaped the world's climate and its ecosystems into what they are today. There are even some endemic holdovers from its island history alive today, like the world's only mainland arboreal crabs the deserve some recognition!
If they don't make it, it sounds like you should! I'd watch haha
A lot of animals isolated on islands always become a bit more interesting. You can even see it today.
Agreed. A program on the subcontinent between breaking off Gondwanaland and the Himalaya forming would be great.
Arboreal crabs? Like...crabs in trees? That sounds terrifying.
I'd be very interested in seeing a vid about this topic. The history of the region seems fascinating from an ecological perspective.
Hatzegopteryx could fly, but I've always wondered what a flightless pterosaur would've looked like, which brings up the question of whether any pterosaurs lost the ability to fly. I wouldn't be surprised if it did and we just haven't found it. Though, there is that whole thing about birds being the only vertebrates that we know evolved the ability to fly and lost it in some cases.
they could be really chunky and strong. Imagine a heavy pterosaur... probably did exist.
I think it makes sense that birds have become flightless so many times, since their ancestors were so well adapted for life on land. They inherited the strong, long legs of their ancestors, and didn’t get the efficient body plan of pterosaurs, so they both have a very small size limit, and a tendency to spend a lot of the time on the ground. While pterosaurs probably COULD become flightless, they could be both big AND flying, at the same time, with no real issues. Birds can only choose one, because if they get to big, their powerful legs necessary for getting off the ground would become too heavy.
Check out the book "The New Dinosaurs" by Dougal Dixon. It's a speculative biology book that looks at what dinosaurs may have evolved into if they hadn't become extinct. He includes at least one flightless pterosaur.
I'd be surprised if there were many flightless pterosaurs: It seems to me that flightless birds exist because their launching/walking muscles and flying muscles are different, so flying takes proportionally a lot more energy (since their legs do nothing in flight). However, pterosaurs use the same set to walk, fly, and launch, so they have much less of a need to become flightless.
@@ThePotatoSapien I think it's likely that the ancestors of pterosaurs were probably also well adapted to life on land; however there could be something about their body plan or possibly lifestyle which made it such that flying didn't involve sacrificing quite so much of the ability to move around on the ground.
All the depictions of pterosaurs I've seen on the ground, their supporting themselves partially on their wings & I've never seen birds doing that. Perhaps there is something about how they formed wings that made this possible.
Since you alluded to the three biggest Pterosaurs, you have to do a video on Arambourgiania; all I know is the wingspan is estimated as the largest of the three (bigger than Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx) and that it exists, it's probably just as bizarre and interesting as Hatzegopteryx!
Especially because I think Arambourgiania is the one that was originally named Titanopteryx, but had to surrender the title when they realized somebody had given it to a fly first.
@@Eloraurora
That's hilarious, thanks for this gem of information! 👌😅
It’s wingspan is similar, but it took the opposite end of the azhdarchid bauplan-insanely slender and tall (taller than most giraffes). We actually have the neck vertebrae from this one to prove it.
Arambourgiania is actually the first giant azhdarchid to be discovered, but it remained obscure, especially after Quetzalcoatlus was found and overshadowed it.
@@bkjeong4302
It's the first time that I witness the word "Bauplan" as a loanword in an english text - I didn't know it got introduced into english, but it perfectly fits the specific character of other german words which made it into english, composite words like "Lagerstaette", "Kindergarten", "Wortschatz" and "Schilderwald". 😅
There is one other pterosaur, recently named Cryodrakon, that could've theoretically rivaled the big three in size, but we only have the fossil of a juvenile so we can't know for sure if it actually did.
Hatzegopteryx is by far the most terrifying of all the pterosaurs. Strong, durable, and heavier than its fellow azhdarchids while still retaining the ability to fly, Hatzegopteryx was the textbook definition of a horror monster. Long gangly limbs, piercing eyes, surprising speed and strength, a huge disturbing face, and being extremely difficult to escape or even evade.
It's no wonder it's called "The Horror of Hateg".
not a rhetorical question i'm sincerely confused by its face, like i dont even understand what i'm looking at here
@@clairebear2741 a 3 meter long pair of keratin scissors evolved to cleave through small animals like butter.
300cm is far too long for a skull
@@chanshengsupremacy8889far too long
Have you watched the season 2 of Prehistoric Planet?
That _Hatzegopteryx_ hunting scene where they basically chase down _Tethyshadros_ is genuinely terrifying.
Pterosaurs are so cool. Quetzalcoatlus has been one of the coolest 'dinosaurs' I'd learned about. Very, very cool to hear about the different pterosaurs, though.
Pterosaurs are amazing animals.
Pterosaurs are not dinosaur, but are dinosaur cousin
@@curious5887 I think that's why they put it in quotes.
There's a startup that wants to revive mastodons now, maybe they will do the same with Pterosaurs at some point in the future
@@LuisSierra42 Sadly probably impossible, as the last pterosaurs were alive 65 million years ago, and DNA does not seem to be capable of surviving that long. Iirc there's actually a video on this channel about that!
@@nerdyspinosaurid Ah, yeah forgot that
In the episode “When Giant Amphibians Reigned“, it was said that an episode on placentas would be made. Maybe you guys forgot about it, but if possible, could that one be made?
Yes please!!
Yes please.
They probably have it in the works, and they might have had this video finished and lined up to post first. It takes time to make these videos!
@@Oh-mq6vq this was several years ago lol - you be right if it wasn't such a long time ago!
Placentas? 😬
Kinda makes me sad that we don't have flying giants anymore. Not that I want massive pterosaurs to exist today. But seeing a bird with a wingspan of 30-40 meters would be WILD
And fatal
@@Zeph914 imagine one hunting you down for a snack...
@@Zeph914 then realizing that maori children had this experience with haast eagles for a time... kinda cool, but also terrifying.
Argentavis and Pelagornis both had wingspans in the 6-7 meter range, which is humongous by flying bird standards. But they’re extinct too, so…
@@sizanogreen9900 most of that size was their wingspan though, their other dimensions while still very impressive for eagles only put them slightly larger than a golden eagle. I would still be terrified to see one chasing me though.
As a fellow romanian, it's so strange to hear Hațeg referred to as an island. I love this episode.
But is a hungarian word Hát means back, szeg means nail, or small area.
Hatzegopteryx was always one of my favorite pterosaurs. Excellent video! Could you do a video on the ceratopsians?
I personally prefer quetzalcoatlus because I am basic like that.
@@sizanogreen9900 that's not Basic that bitch was the size of a girrafe or bigger
I always knew about the quetzal (cause I played ark lol) but hearing about a quetzal that was bigger and more prone to predation. That's pretty cool
@@Sneezus69 hatzeg was not really bigger tho...as far as I know. but still very cool of course.
@@Sneezus69 Hatzegopteryx wasn't bigger than Quetzalcoatlus. It's actually kind of arguable. Basically, Hatze was bulkier, Quetz was lankier.
I really want to see an episode of eons dedicated to the sebecids.
not only that they were the only notosuchians to survive the KT mass extinction, but some grew into some of the biggest terrestrial predators of the Cenozoic era.
I hadn't heard of them before and looked them up. Fascinating! Now I want them to cover sebecids too!
@@vaimantobe3034 lol same the name intrigued me and had to google it!!!
5:20 That beak pattern is literally the stuff of nightmare.
France had in late cretaceous one middle-sized theropod - Arcovenator (which is btw only abelisaurid found outside of Gondwana). So Hatzegopteryx had at least on one island some competition.
Thank you for sharing this research PBS Eons. Mark Witton and I are currently working on a book and will hopefully be able to show off some more Hatzegopteryx artwork later this year. We hope that you're as excited about that prospect as we are!
I sure am, I'm working with the Hateg Country Geopark on making saleable scale models of some of the most prominent species from the area, based on life size models we have and other newer depictions and information. I'll schedule Hatzegopteryx later in the year and follow your work :) Best regards.
Wow you guys are both awesome (Nathan and person above me). I love reading comments like this that are from people who work in this space and are passionate about what they do
It's mind-boggling that it grew that large and its still capable of flight! such a magnificent creature. Dude it will be so terrifying being a dwarf dinosaur there lmao
Imagine being a human. Even dwarf dinosaurs were pretty big. "A dwarf dinosaur, only 4 meters long.." Hmmmm...
Pterosaurs are my favorite non-dinosaur.
My favorite non-dinosaur is American Bullfrog 😃
My favorite non-dinosaur is my cat
"Birds are dinosaurs but pterodactyls aren't" sounds so wrong even though it's 100% true
my favorite non-dinosaur archosaurs are the sebecids.
Pliosaurs>mosasaurs
I still miss Steve. I really really appreciate the shot of what the land looked like at the time you're speaking about. I request that this becomes the standard but also that you begin with the whole global projection thing. So we see all the parts of all the land masses and then drill down to the part we're actually talking about to put things in perspective. I've been trying so hard to put all this together in my brain and I find myself frustrated that the various sources of information do not overlap on the time frame. This one little graphic helps me more than I can possibly say. I really hope not only that you will continue this and expand this, but that you might even consider going back to your more popular older vids and editing them to add this information. Information. I'm sure lots of people can keep this in their heads but I can't so I really appreciate it. It thanks! Love the show. Love all you guys. Love all the non-avian dinosaurs.
Miss Steve as well
I totally agree about adding a larger map to show the total land masses, then zeroing in on the small landmass that’s been discussed in any particular video. I visualize things that way, too, and it would help me put things into context.
Steve is hiding from a hungry Hatzegopteryx.
@@DFloyd84 And isn't that just like him. Maybe he'll grow a pair and come back. Or kill the monster. Or stop being afraid of the monster. Or become a real boy just like a geppetto wanted...
For Sean Denis.
FOR STEVE!!!
I really like these kinds of ecosystems where the animal roles are sort of reversed. Like, this is unusual for a Pterosaur to become the apex predator of its ecosystem. Though we do know that Azdharchids are also predators, it's pretty unusually for me to see to have one as a full-on apex predator trying to fill in the empty slot
9:02 missed an opportunity; you could have said "one that could turn a pterosaur into a terror-saur"
A giant apex predator that could fly -- the only thing it's missing is a fricking laser beam on its head.
this feels like the closest thing to a dragon we've ever found in the fossil record, and in Cretaceous Europe no less!
sorry Quetzalcoatlus, I have a new favorite pterosaur now
all ptersaurs are dragons like. just tiny ones.
I especially like the look of the ones with long tails with the leaf shape at the end.
@@kanrup5199 you mean the rhamphorinchids?
@@funwithfish1507 yup.
Hateg Island sure was a unique and strange place, I mean, it was home to a gigantic pterosaur that terrorized the island and ruled it as the top of the food chain. Only on Hateg Island did a pterosaur manage to fulfill the niche of the Tyrannosaurus rex. Hatzegopteryx sure would have been scary if it were alive today, it ate small sauropods for crying out loud so humans would probably be on its menu too.
I think I remember this on planet dinosaur on tv.
Seeing something attack a sauropod then realising it was a pterosaur. It was so shocking at first.
That was actually a downplayed version, because that was produced before the data on Hatzegopteryx’s robust build was known. The actual animal was scarier.
Kind of a funny coincidence that the only two docuseries to feature Hateg Island both have the word “dinosaur” and “planet” in their titles…
That podcast episode was especially interesting because my biological anthropology class covered forensic anthropology and skeletons in this week’s lecture, so I really understood the problems with identifying La Brea Woman conclusively.
I also kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and it to be announced that they’d found out the skeleton was either not human or not even real bones. But nope, truth is stranger than fiction.
I had not heard of La Brea woman. Do you have a link to a podcast on that subject?
@@fleetskipper1810 Eons has a podcast series on Apple podcasts and Google, and that was the first episode.
@@fleetskipper1810 also on spotify
i would love a video on what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur!! like what makes something a dinosaur vs just a prehistoric animal/reptile/etc?
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur Wikipedia has a pretty good answer. But in short the fact that they're related. Just like how all mammals are related.
Also dinosaurs are not only prehistoric since avian dinosaurs are around today :)
They discuss this in a video on the Ghost Ranch fossils that were mislabeled as Coelophysis
Giant apex predator that can chase you down on land AND can fly.. New fear unlocked.
Theropods have been found on Hateg, but they seem to have the opposite size trends to the herbivorous dinosaurs there. Instead of big species getting smaller, it’s small species getting bigger.
One such example of this is Balaur bondoc, a 2-meter flightless bird that’s notable for having _two_ sickle claws on each foot.
Also, none of the Hateg island theropods were all that predatory (except maybe the possible dwarf abelisaur, and even that thing was too small to hunt something like Telmatosaurus or a juvenile Magyarosaurus).
@@bkjeong4302 Oh yeah, forgot there was an abelisaur at the site.
Was that the one that inspired the abelisaurs from Dinosaur Planet? They were named as a species of Tarascosaurus, but I don’t think that genus was found in Hateg specifically.
@@bendykirby4828
Yep.
I have to wonder, what kept Hatzegopteryx off of the mainland if it could fly throughout the European Archipelago at the time? Could it not compete with the giant mainland theropods?
Yeah, probably that. The northern part of Africa was a swampy/riverine area full of huge dinosaur and crocodilian predators at the time.
Mainland theoropods and crocs could still murder it. Theropods like Allosaurids and Tyrannosaurids are designed to be mainland predators. How can an island bully even stand a chance?
Honestly, giant pterosaurs > dinosaurs imo. Just look at these artworks! How fantastic and alien they look!
And to think they could fly with this size, not to forget their often ridiculous skulls.
I've heard about Hatzegopteryx but never knew it was from my homeland of Romania, big props to Eons!
I let out the loudest screech when I saw this video! Pterosaurs are my favorite!
basically dragons if you exclude fire breath:D
Hatzegopteryx is hands down my favorite pterosaur and insanely epic. I'd say he's like a real-life dragon, but most of mythological dragons were way lamer
Yes, I think this creature is more terrifying than the logical dragons. Except for maybe the mythological dragons can breathe fire.
@@fleetskipper1810 many of them cannot. Mythical dragons are mostly just big snakes
I really like the size and weight comparisons, helps put the information on perspective. Also I really liked how Michelle got used to and improved her speaker style, seems very smooth and confident
My therapist: "Don't worry, wyverns aren't real."
Hatzegopteryx: "Allow me to introduce myself."
Oh good lord..., what are we to call a miniature Mammoth? A Minimmoth...?
Mammini
Dwarf mammoth, usually
Patterns of Insular Evolutions are SOOOO awesome!!! Can't believe we are lucky enough to be aware of an example of it with dinosaurs and pterosaurs, delightful!!
So excited for the podcast!!! I love the youtube channel and can't wait for the possibility for longer episodes just discussing how fascinating the history of the earth is
Absolutely pterrifying
This is one of my favorite things I have ever learned about anything throughout the age of dinosaurs. Such a huge contrast to the standard books and illustrations I grew up with in the 90s that I find this so interesting haha.
Thanks once again EONS team!
Epic to hear about another giant pterosaur as Quetzalcoatlus is one of my favorite ancient animals.
So excited for the podcast!
Thank you. This channel is so informative, so fascinating.
My favourite channels on RUclips!! keep it up!! Non-political and just information and enjoyable to watch
Really dig the depth yet conciseness of your episodes. Keep up the great work!
What a terrifying creature. Amazing episode
The pic at 5:4 is one of my favourite piece of paleoart ever! How I love these chunky bois!
Island/insular gigantism is a thing too which I think is more reasonable as to why they are large vs flying 200km to another island.
So happy over more content on my favourite animal of all time. Thanks!
Lol, this video really reminded me of Atlas Pro's video on the same topic of Hatzeg Island where I first learned about this. But glad to know that there was even more information that he didn't cover that you guys did.
Great episode, one of my favourites!
If the Pterosaur was not limited to Hateg island, then it would still have needed all the adaptions pterosaurs have for avoiding predators on the mainland (flight) right? So all the adaptations it made in its neck for hunting prey on Hateg island couldn’t have come at the expense of those other adaptations it needed, right?
Which is why it could fly….
Hateg Island is part of a large archipelago of islands. This pterosaur likely hunted them all and had little need of the mainland.
Thank god for that! I was just discussing current issues and boy am I glad to hear about...something nobody can change.
You made me smile. I feel the same. Talking about ancient creatures like this is a relief.
i am SO excited to listen to this podcast, it'll be great to listen to on my way to work every day!
Can this channel get its playlists updated? I listen to them all the time, and I would love to see the new stuff added :)
The size comparisons really help in this video! One of my favorite things is weird species that evolve in isolated places like lemurs and such but it's so interesting how this thing was so huge just for a few small islands but I mean..whatever gets the job done.
Thanks for the metric dimensions 🙏🙏
Much easier to imagine
Easily my favorite series to watch about prehistoric life, beautiful work.
I have said it before and I will say it again. Gorgonopsids, ancient crocodilians, therocephalians and, pterosaurs, particularly azhdarchids like quetzalcoatlus appear nightmarish to me!
Imagine how we look to most other animals.
I love these accurate Dinosaur models, keep making videos! I love them!
Looking at the Wandering Albatross I was reminded of the fact that it uses ground effect to travel long distances. It made me wonder if Hatzegopteryx did the same thing. By riding on the cushion of air generated using ground effect it would save energy allowing it to fly long distances.
Hatzegopteryx has been my favorite archosaur since I first learned about it
hurrah! I am subscribing to the podcast even as I type lol *oh and wonderful breakdown of Hateg's prehistoric fauna* really enjoyed the video :)
Amazing content as always, wish the best for all of PBS crews!👌
Loved the podcast wish it was longer so good
I love you in these Videos I wish I could take a class with you as the teacher I feel like you would make it so fun an interesting please never stop making these !
I do wonder if this was a creature which was like toadys honey badger, needing to continuously eat because of the energy it used flying to each meal or if it was more efficient and able to succeed by eating infrequently but travelling over large areas.
So it could have theoretically also hunted people, if they were around ?
Then he’s almost like a dragon. Imagine being eaten by something like that.
Despite also wishing that the mini insect-eating pterosaurs had stayed until to the cretaceous and survive the mass extinction, that makes me glad no pterosaurs survive. They would have likely been able to evolve huge size again and having us as their prey.
Yeah, they only really lack the fire-breathing part. I want to see them in a dark, horror movie.
@@sapphirII
Pterosaurs actually maintained their hold on small-bodied niches via their juveniles: as with dinosaurs, juvenile pterosaurs outnumbered adults and often held different niches.
This also makes the “birds outcompeted pterosaurs in small niches and thus contributed to their extinction” hypothesis highly questionable, because if that was the case all the large pterosaurs should have died out as well due to their juveniles being unable to compete with birds. The fact this didn’t happen shows that pterosaurs could compete with birds just fine.
@@sapphirII
The giant azhdarchids in general and this one in particular would be able to swallow most people whole: Hatzegopteryx would also be a threat to small/mid-sized livestock like sheep or goats.
Friendship ended with Quetzalcoatlus. Now Hatzegopteryx is my best friend. That's a really cool Pterosaur I think is my favorite.
It's amazing how such an enormous animal could fly! It'd be really interesting to look at the evolution of flight - I'm sure it's happened many times throughout our planet's history, so it'd be cool to see where it came from and what different animals have evolved in this way over the years.
THANK YOU for the black bear comparison. It really put the weight into perspective for me.
Hatzeg Island region: *has a vacant apex predator niche*
Hatzegopteryx: "it'sfreerealestate"
My favorite documentary growing up had an episode on an earlier reported largest pterosaur Ornithocheirus, outdated now but still a good watch!
This pterosaur, probably: I'm not like other pterosaurs, I'm... a toucan.
Could you imagine being in Jurassic Park being hunted by "Ground Pterosaurs"
And they can still sorta fly. But maybe they would be hunted out by velociraptors.
Slightly comforted...
YESS, PODCAST. As a night worker who lives in podcasts, can't wait*
The wind span just blows my mind... That's longer than my house!
This is seriously one of my favorite videos that pbs eons have posted. It’s extremely intriguing!
LOVE that this is depicted towards the end of the forests episode of prehistoric planet.
5:28 I thought the script was going to read "trading length for girth"
3:57 I couldn't stop myself from booping the snoot LOOK AT THOSE BIG OL EYES
It would be amazing to see one of these things fly ... as long as it didn't see you.
These things are just incredible looking.
I think that an episode on Azhdarchids in general or other members would be really cool.
Yessssss more pterosaur vids! I want more representation for Arambourgiana
I NEED MORE PTEROSAUR VIDEOS!
I wish that she would clarify how fossils that we "HAVEN'T found" may paint a picture of an ecosystem?! 3:13
I’m just imagining the Pterosaur running through the woods/swamp and just scooping up its pray and keep running
I love Hatzegopteryx so much, ever since I saw it in Planet Dinosaur it became my most favourite genus of pterosaur.
This was my favorite episode ever, and I’ve been watching for years. Also great joke.
I live in Transilvania and have been to Hateg (after which this species was named ).I'm trying to imagine the era when those giants roamed those lands.
Another beautiful video. Thank you
A legendary animal for sure! What I wouldn't give to see them soar the skies again.
Move over velociraptor, this is way more terrifying and should be featured in the next jurrasic park movie.
Hey, I know those guys in all the image credits! Well, I read their blogs and they've replied to me in comments. They even had a short-lived site (it's still there, but hasn't been updated in years) all about pterosaurs, creatively named pterosaur (dot) net.
2:27 Apparently that was a micro continent.
I think the name was Balkanatolia?
There was a recent paper about it.
People should never feel guilty for eating chicken. Given half a chance, they would eat us with no second thought.
Okay that joke was far funnier than I thought, I was anticipating it being a pun on terrible...
This creature is so incredibly bizarre looking, it is almost beyond belief. As they say, you couldn't make this stuff up.
There is a really funky about the biomechanics of pterosaurs that makes them operate on reverse logic to birds. Birds use their legs to take-off, so the larger and more muscular they become the bigger their leg muscles have to become; but their legs don't help in flight, so after a certain size the big leg muscles actively prevent flight. Pterosaurs use their arms for take-off, so the bigger and more muscular they become, the bigger their arm muscles have to become; and bigger arms aid in take-off and flight, so they just get better at it. In theory a pterosaur should never lose the power of flight; regardless of how large it grows.
as a massive pterosaur fan im disappointed you didn't miss the third in competition for "biggest ever," and my personal favorite, the Cryodrakon!