Lift off! The biggest known flying creature had an explosive launch

With an 11–12-metre wingspan — comparable to that of a small plane — the winged reptile Quetzalcoatlus northropi must have cast a fearsome shadow as it flew above what is now Texas, 70 million years ago. It remains the largest known flying animal, but relatively few bones of it have been found and almost nothing about it has been published.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03677-y

Subjects

• Palaeontology