Quetzalcoatlus: The Pterosaur God

Imagine a bird with a thirty foot wingspan that weighs two hundred pounds.  Meet Quetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur as tall as a giraffe and as big as a small plane.  Its name even refers to Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god.  This was undoubtedly the largest flying animal to ever live.

As in all pterosaurs, the wing is made up of one finger extended long enough to hold a wing membrane.  The membrane is a flap of skin stretched on the thin frame.  It holds many tiny hairs that sense changes in wind and air pressure, allowing Quetzalcoatlus to make adjustments as needed.  The pterosaur god is a perfect flying machine.

Along with being a flying machine, Q was also a perfect fisher.  It would fly above water, and pluck out any unfortunate fish or marine reptiles that were swimming in the area.  This magnificent beast died off in the event that caused the dinosaurs’ reign to end as well.

Stethacanthus: The Ironing-Board Shark

One of the strangest sharks that ever lived, Stethacanthus was nicknamed the Ironing-board Shark for its strange dorsal fin.  The fin was flat on top and thick, and it was the shape of, well, an ironing board.

Stethacanthus was seven to nine feet long, and would have been dwarfed by today’s sharks.  It was a small Devonian predator, and it lived 416-419 million years ago.  At the time, only arthropods lived on land at the time, and most life lived in the sea.  The Ironing-board Shark was more likely prey than predator.

Ankylosaurus: A Tank on Legs

Ankylosaurus was a herbivore, but not at all peaceful.  With bony plates all over its back, this tank on legs even had bony eyelids.  At about five feet tall and twenty long, it was huge--but that’s not what made it dangerous.  A gigantic club at the end of its tail could be used to crack bones and even kill an attacker.

 

The only vulnerable area on an ankylosaurus was its soft underbelly, which was hard to reach.  If something tried to attack from below, ankylosaurus would simply sit on it and crush it.

Deinonychus-- Killer Claws and Fluffy Feathers

Have you ever seen the blockbuster movie Jurassic Park?  The fleet-footed Velociraptor took the main stage, but the real Velociraptor was only about three feet tall and covered in feathers.  Deinonychus, another, bigger raptor, was probably what they were using the name.

With the same killer claw on the middle toe, and long fingers to hold onto prey, it was an expert killer.  The toe was used to cut into the neck of a victim.  If it got lucky, it would pierce the windpipe or an artery.

 

Along with killer claws, deinonychus had feathers.  It could use them to help it turn when running quickly and jump higher.

 

When thinking raptor, think fluffy feathers and killer claws.

Coelurosauravus

Have you ever seen a flying lizard?  Think Coelurosauravus.  Sixteen inches long with wing like structures sprouting from their backs, they're the closest thing to a flying lizard you could find.  They lived in the Permian Period, which was 250 million years ago, and are long since extinct.