Throughout pretty much all of human history, our species had to deal with a lot of predators 

But luckily, we havent had to face any predators that commit ariel assault 

Unless you’re a new born baby i guess 

 

But if humans alive during Maastrichtian  age of the Late Cretaceous, you could have easily been a target for the Quetzalcoatlus Northropi 

 

For starters, it is believed to be the largest member of the pterosaurs 

 

It’s exact size is hard to pin down, but what we know for sure is that was really really really big 

 

Most estimates indicate that the creatures had a wingspan of  about 30 feet in length on average 

 

But some scientists have estimated that their wingspan could have gotten up to 40 feet long in some of the larger specimens! 

 

 
Even at 36 feet, That’s nearly the length of a telephone pole, a school bus, or like 3 basketball goals stacked on top of each other 

 

Currently the tallest land animal on earth is the Giraffe, and they stand around 16-18 feet tall from hoof to the top of their head 

 

And that is roughly the same height that sceintists believe the Quetzalcoatlus was when it stood up straight 

 

 

When you combine its wingspan and height, its basically the largest Pterosaur ever discovered 

 

And it could quite possibly the largest organism to have ever take flight in all of history on planet earth! 

 

They’re the closest thing this planet has ever seen to an actual dragon 

 

Although they are considerd to be the biggets, there is some speculation about surrounding this claim 

 

The Hatzegopteryx was bulkier and weighed  more, but in terms of height and wingspan, the Quetzalcoatlus is the largest 

 

But speaking of Bulk, how much did these monsters actually weigh? 

 

Its difficult for us to get a crystal clear estimate, and the range varies quite a bit, and stretches from 200 pounds for smaller specimens all the way up to 550 pounds on the high end 

 

You would expect it to be much heavier, but when you realize it can take flight, it makes sense why it weighs around as much a female black bear does 

 

Their bones were strong, but they were also light and hollow at the same time 

 

Pretty much every flying animal requires hollowness to their bones just simply due to the laws of physics 

 

Heavier bones are harder to lift into the air 

 

But the the skull breast bone and quad bones of the Quetzalcoatlus are probably the strongest bones on their bodies 

 

Their skull needed to be strong in order to sustain huntin prey 

 

The breastbone is robust in order to sustain large pectoral muscles and maintain flight, similar to how a lot of birds of prey have large chests 

 

And their femurs were strong in order so support their strong leg muscles, which they used for a variety of different functions 

 

Its truly hard to imagine how insane one of these would be in real life, but just try to think about for a second 

just imagine you’re walking to go get the mail when suddenly an 18 foot, 550 pound flying reptilian dives directly at you 

 

Its wingspan is the length of a bus, and its headed straight for you 

 

And it knows it has several ways it could kill you 

 

The first and most obvious way it could kill you is by just colliding into your body 

 

At their top speed, the quetzalcoatlus can reach up to 80 mile sper hour 

 

 

 

 

That would net it a speeding ticket on most roads in the world, and would definitlet put an end to your life if it collided into you 

 

Chances are it would also sustain serious injuries, but it would definitley feel better than you do after that 

 

 

Although there is some speculation and debate on whether or not the animal actually was able to take flight, it has been cleared up for the most part now 

 

When it was first discovered back in the 1970’s, scientists argued that the animal was simply too big to fly 

 
They didnt understand how it was able to sustain such a massive size and frame in the air 

 

Typically, it is believed that animals of a certain weight or build arent able to take flight 

 

Take the Ostrich for example  

 

The bird has a wingspan of 6’6, but it cant fly one iota 

 

Using similar logic, sceintists first conlcuded that the Quetzalcoatlus couldnt fly 

 

But later on, the sentiment shifted to one that favors it could actually take flight, and fly extremely well 

 

One of the main obstables in the way of it taking flight that scientist debated over was who these guys got off the ground 

 

At first they thought it was a bipedal launch similar to how most birds take off, just standing on the ground, flapping wings, and soaring away 

 

But now the consensus says that they managed to obtain flight by first launchign themselves into the air off of 4 limbs, similar to how a bat would 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALziqtuLxBQ&ab_channel=DirectDimensions 

The animal was a quadruped, meaning it uses all 4 of its limbs to walk 

 

And when it wanted to fly, it would thrust itself into their air using its strong limbs 

 
Supposedly, it could reach up to 8feet off the ground in a single jump 

 

From there, it would flat its wings to gain lift, and being to soar 

 

Although they had incredibly strong breastbones and chest muscles, their main cheatcode so to speak for flying was their usage of thermal currents to allow it to ascend to higher heights in the air 

 

The use of thermal air currents is pretty common among a lot of larger flying birds today, and the quetzalcoatlus wouldve been very proficient at this 

 

As Earths surface warms up from the suns heat, columns of warmer air ascend, and flying animals are able to hijack these currents to move upwards without expending much energy 

 

Since Quetzalcoatlus wings are so massive, they could easily trap a tremendous amount of warm rising air under their wings  

 

On the higher end of estimates, it is said that they could fly for between 7 to 10 DAYS straight without ever needing to land 

During these flights, they could cover up to 12,000 miles in row 

 

But most believe that the majority of their flights where only a few miles or so. 

Either way, it’s safe to say this thing was very proficient at flight, and could easily gear up enough momentum to get where it needed to go  

 

But what if you happened to encounter one on the ground? 

 

Well unfortunatley for you, you’d probably still be screwed 

 

The animals arent thought of to be aggresive, but if you ever found yourself within its vicinity, it could easily mistake you for a threat and would attack you 

 

Their main weapon of choice is their beaks 

A beak of a fully grown Quetzalcoatlus could measure to be up to  8’2 feet tall in length 

We’re talking a foot taller than Shaq here man 

 

Unfortunatley, the width of the beak isnt well documented, so I cant say for sure a human could fit inside of its beak, but estimates range between 2 to 3 feet, so there is a chance it could, espeically if the human we’re talking about in this scenario is on the smaller end 

 

But the scariest part about the beak is that it doesnt need to eat you in order to put you in a world of peril  

 

Their beaks are extremely pointy and sharp, similar to that of a modern day stork 

 

Storks use their beaks to stab and kill their pray while hunting for small animals on the ground 

 

Their beaks were equipped with no sorts of teeth, so they would either have to swallow their bites whole, or break the meat apart with their peaks and claws first 

 

And the Quetzalcoatlus is just that on steroids 

 

With a weapon bigger than Shaq combined with this level of sharpness, it would easily impale you, entering one side of your body and exiting out the other 

 

Its basically a massive all purpose spear, specifically designed to kill animals smaller than it is on the ground 

 

Although they have all this weaponry and potential, the way the Quetzalcoatlus hunted its prey is up for debate 

Some scientists and archaeologists believe that it was simply a scavenger that ate the remains of dead dinosaurs and other small prey on the ground, like small mammals and dinosaurs, similar to how a lot of modern birds operate today 

 

But other scientists theories that it could taken to the skies, stalked its prey, and then dove on in on it similar to a hawk or an eagle 

 

 

They are also believed to have extremely sharp eyes, just like a hawk or eagle does as well 

 

Since it has the capacity to fly for long distances, it would make sense for them to swoop in from above when they spot something tasty and go inf or the kill 

 

Luckily for a lot of animals that could potentially be prey for this animal, they were primarily limited to the North American continent, mostly in the Texas area 

 

They thrived mostly in wetland regions that were covered in a lot of forests, and of course, bodies of water like rivers and lakes 

 

How do we know this? 

 

Because of where the fossil remains were found! 

 

Most of the remains have been found in regions in which scientists have concluded were likely  

 

Although no Quetzalcoatlus eggs have been discovered, arhcaologiest and theorized what htey would be like based on other pterosaurs 

 

Pterosaur eggs are typically very leathery and soft, similar to what we see in modern day crocodiles and turtles 

 

This leads scientists to believe that the eggs would be burried in damp soil near water to ensure that the eggs wouldnt dry out 

 

Despite the Quetzalcoatlus being absolutely massive, their eggs would likely be much smaller, only weighing around 1 kilogram based on these estimates 

 

The eggs would also be uniqely shaped, being very long and skinny, rather than wide  

 

Mother Quetzalcoatus were believed to watch over the eggs until they hatch, and from there, the hatchlings would have to fend for themselves  

 

The hatchlings would either be ready to flight fresh out of their shells, or would have to learn shortly thereafter, or else they would be targets for dinosaurs of potnetially other specieis fo pterosaurs as well 

 

Unlike the adults, the babies were tiny, and they needed to acquire large amounts of food quickly in order to put on size 

 

But who was their main rival out there when they became fully fledged adults? 

 

Although the Quetzalcaotlus was an apex predator, they still had to worry about other dinosaurs out there 

 

One of their main points of opposition was probably the Tyrannosaurus Rex and potentially the Allosaurus 

 

Since the Quetzalcoatlus had hollow bones, if it were to get into a fight with one of these, it would have a chance at getting a bone snapped, which would render it unable to fight 

 

The Quetzalcoatlus was no slouch though, as I mentioned earlier 

 

That long sharp beak could pose as a valuable wepon, if necessary 

 

But in most cases, these guys would prefer to not fight, and would rather use their quadrupedal launching mechanics to get the heck out of there  

 

Therefore, the chances of  a t rex and Quetzalcoatlus fighting were pretty rare 

 

Something much more common and likely would be the Quetzalcoatlus scavenging off of the carcasses of dead dinosaurs that t rex killed off, rather than directly messing with the t rex  

 

And of course, these guys were apex predators, so countless animals needed to be on the lookout for them 

 

Although most flying animals that we know of today like eagles that swoop down and snatch their prey up, this is probably not what the Quetzalcoatlus did 

 

Unlike Eagles, who have proportional legs to their body size and have and massive talons, the quetzalcoatlus had neither of those 

 

Their hind legs were pretty small in comparison to its head and neck, and their claws are much shorter than what would be needed to use them as ariel weapons 

 

Raptor talons are equipped with the ability to essentially ratchet their claws down 

 

They can manure their talons such that once they get ahold of their prey, their talons lock place   

 

Quetzalcoatlus claws also lack the pronounced curve you see with raptor talons, which allows for the carrying of prey over large distances after the ratchet mechanism locks them in place 

 

Since the Quetzalcoatlus doesnst have any of these features, its prett likely that they didnt use their claws to carry their prey and rather just used their feet for walking around to scavenge  

 

The idea of a 18 foot 550 pount monster swooping in and abducting you does seem terrifying, but it’s more than likely not the case 

 

So what caused these massive predators to go extinct, leaving no direct descendants for us to study? 

 

Well, just like a ton of other dinosaurs and species in general, it got wiped out in the K-T extinction event, which is also referred to as The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event 

 

Its been theorized that around 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid between 10 – 15 kiloemeters in width slammed into the Earth 

 

It completley discombobulated the environment, and caused a chain reaction of death and destruction that essentially cleared out up to 75% of all animal and plant species roaming the earth 

 

Enormous fires and dust blocking the sun out caused plant life to be destoryed, which then lead to herbivores getting impacted, which of course resulted in the carnivores also getting decimated 

 

Since food sources became exceedingly hard to come across, large predators like the Quetzalcoatlus were simply unable to adapt, forcing them to starve to death 

 

The climate itself changing drastically also would have an impact on their ability to keep warm 

 

Since they were warm blooded animals, they needed a steady source of food to fuel their metabolism.  

Unlike cold-blooded reptiles, which can go long periods without eating, Quetzalcoatlus would have required frequent meals to sustain its massive body and energy-intensive flight.  

 Thermal currents, which Quetzalcoatlus relied on to soar for long distances with minimal energy expenditure, were likely disrupted due to changes in atmospheric conditions.  

Additionally, nesting sites would have been devastated. Many pterosaurs, including Quetzalcoatlus, are thought to have laid soft-shelled eggs in warm, moist environments—conditions that would have been obliterated by the environmental catastrophe.  

If surviving females were unable to find suitable locations to lay their eggs, reproduction rates would have plummeted, pushing them toward extinction even faster. 

The dwindling population would have also made finding mates nearly impossible, further driving them toward extinction.  

Unlike smaller, more adaptable creatures that could burrow or hibernate through the harshest conditions, Quetzalcoatlus simply had no way to escape the collapse of the food chain. 

And so, one of the largest flying creatures to ever exist—a true titan of the skies—was erased from the Earth, leaving behind only fragments of fossilized bone as proof that it ever soared over the prehistoric world. 

 

The Quetzalcoatlus was more than just a giant pterosaur—it was THE giant pterosaur 

 A monster so incredibly massive yet so perfectly engineered by nature for flight  

But even titans fall.  

 In the grand scheme of evolution, adaptability is key—and Quetzalcoatlus, with all its glory, simply could not survive the demands of the new world order. 

And so, just like the dinosaurs it once soared above, it vanished. 

 No fossils of direct descendants exist to our knowledge, and no modern creature carries its genetic legacy.  

But its legend remains. 

 Every time you look up at a bird gliding through the air, imagine if it were actually 18 feet tall with the wingspan of a skull bus and skull bigger than Shaq! 

 

Well thats all for this video guys 

 

Please be sure to leave a like and comment down below! 

 

Was there anything I missed about the Quetzalcoatlus that you guys know of? Let me know! 

 

Until next time