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#pterosauria #balaur #pterodactyloidea #hatzegopteryx #adzarchidae
Published: 2016-04-07 01:54:18 +0000 UTC; Views: 9205; Favourites: 180; Downloads: 36
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Description
Pterosauria>Pterodactyloidea>Azhdarchoidea>Neoazhdarchia>Neopterodactyloidea>Azhdarchidae>Hatzegopteryx>H.thambemaBuffetaut, Grigorescu & Csiki, 2002
Time: Late Maastrichtian (~66 million years ago)
Length: Up to 7.1 meters (23.2ft) from the tip of the beak to the toes.
Wingspan: Up to 10.4 meters (31.4ft), based on estimates by Mark Witton.
Weight: Up to 250kg (0.25 tonnes) or perhaps even 540kg (0.54 tonnes), based on different papers.
Habitat: The Huenduara County of Transylvannia, Romania (formerly the Hateg chain of islands).
Ecology: Large er... aerial? carnivore. Like other azhdarchids, Hatzegopteryx was probably highly terrestrial for a pterosaur, with some even going as far as to suggest is was flightless (though this is very unlikely). With a lack of large theropods, it would have been the apex predator of the Hateg region in the Maastrichtian, where the largest dinosaurs massed less than one tonne.
Diet: You. Run.
Locomotion: Like other azhdarchids, Hatzegopteryx probably spent high amounts of time on land, for a pterosaur (some have even gone as far as to suggest that it was flightless, though this is very unlikely). However, a 2010 study on Quetzalcoatlus northropi concluded that that genus could have flown for over 10.000 miles (16.000 kilometers) without landing, with a maximum speed of 80mph (120 km/h); although Hatzegopteryx was far more robust, the two genera are highly similar in general anatomy and wingspan, and Hatzegopteryx would undoubtedly have been able to fly from island to island with little effort, supporting its large size and role as top predator of the insular ecosystems.
Competition: Juvenile Hatzegopteryx may have competed with or fallen prey to the smaller azhdarchid Eurazhdarcho and the eumaniraptoran Balaur, with adults possibly competing with the indeterminate theropod ''Megalosaurus'' hungaricus.
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Misleading name, eh? But really, the description of Balaur as crested, gigantic and somehow connected to weather fits the giant predatory pterosaur much better than the tiny, double-clawed ''dodo-raptor'' (though neither of them has three to twelve heads... that would be scary as hell). Why they even bothered to give that name to the latter is beyond me.
Update 07/17/17:
-Lineart completely remade.
-Replaced human scale figure.
-More accurate size estimate, now along the centra as is the norm, instead of in a straight line.
-Minor text corrections.
Skeletal reconstruction by Mark Witton.
Related content
Comments: 81
randomdinos In reply to ??? [2016-04-13 19:30:26 +0000 UTC]
That can also (possibly) make intercontinental flights.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
PCAwesomeness [2016-04-07 22:05:16 +0000 UTC]
Oh, that name is CONFUSING!
Also...
*looks at the diet*
Hue.
in all seriousness, what did it eat?
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
acepredator In reply to PCAwesomeness [2016-04-13 15:37:01 +0000 UTC]
Anything short of the biggest dwarf sauropods.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
randomdinos In reply to PCAwesomeness [2016-04-08 00:23:40 +0000 UTC]
Anything smaller than itself, preferably that could be swallowed whole. Anything except for fully grown mini-sauropods/mini-iguanodonts, and "Megalosaurus" hungaricus could work, though animals smaller than a human would likely make up most of its diet.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Tyraxxus In reply to ??? [2016-04-07 21:02:54 +0000 UTC]
I swear these adzarchids are scaring me more and more with their attributes and what they could have been capable of.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
randomdinos In reply to Tyraxxus [2016-04-08 00:28:08 +0000 UTC]
I know, right? Like seriously, I doubt this guy could do it, but Quetzalcoatlus staying aloft for a week straight... just imagine that.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Tyraxxus In reply to randomdinos [2016-04-08 01:42:34 +0000 UTC]
Yeah... and by the way, Balaur would definitely make a much better name for Hatzegopteryx than for a mostly herbivorous ancient flightless bird.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
TheDubstepAddict [2016-04-07 09:37:18 +0000 UTC]
Awesome, my fav Pterosaur!
Bur wasn't balaur an theropod?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
randomdinos In reply to TheDubstepAddict [2016-04-08 00:26:22 +0000 UTC]
Hah nice, mine is Quetzalcoatlus.
Balaur bondoc is a theropod, but Balaur (just Balaur, with no italics and no second name)is a Romanian dragon whose description (large serpentine creature with wings, a crest, and somehow connected to weather) sounds much more similar to Hatzegopteryx.
👍: 1 ⏩: 2
PCAwesomeness In reply to randomdinos [2016-05-15 18:46:55 +0000 UTC]
My favorite pterosaur is none other than the ornithocheiroidean seagull, Pteranodon.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
randomdinos In reply to PCAwesomeness [2016-05-15 22:54:36 +0000 UTC]
That's high on my favorites list as well. Especially knowing it looked like this
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…
and not this.
www.crimsontear.com/tvseries/p…
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
PCAwesomeness In reply to randomdinos [2016-05-15 22:56:35 +0000 UTC]
Ah, Primeval, my most hated BBC TV show!
Honestly, though. Seagulls are my spirit animal and the embodiment of all bird memes in the world. Guess what Pteranodon was similar to?
Also, agreed.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
randomdinos In reply to PCAwesomeness [2016-05-16 01:00:43 +0000 UTC]
Really? My spirit animal is a mylodontid. xD
(well, actually, it's a panda or something, but mylodontids are savannah burrowing panda-sloths, which is even better.)
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
TheDubstepAddict In reply to randomdinos [2016-04-08 05:08:52 +0000 UTC]
Wow! I never knew dat! Thanks a beat!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
RaishinL In reply to ??? [2016-04-07 04:17:27 +0000 UTC]
Why Balaur? Thats already the genus name of a herbivorous, double-sickle claw footed bird from Hateg island.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
acepredator In reply to RaishinL [2018-10-22 03:39:41 +0000 UTC]
Because the description of the mythical Balaur fits a giant carnivorous pterosaur better than a double-sickle-clawed flightless bird?
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
TrilobiteCannibal [2016-04-07 03:20:07 +0000 UTC]
I thought balaur was the bird for a second
The hatzegopteryx is awesome though, azdharchids are awesome
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
randomdinos In reply to TrilobiteCannibal [2016-04-08 01:09:42 +0000 UTC]
XD
And thanks! Yes, they definitely are.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
TrilobiteCannibal In reply to randomdinos [2016-04-08 02:28:18 +0000 UTC]
The mystical giraffe stork hangglider
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Somoist555 [2016-04-07 02:10:52 +0000 UTC]
The giant flying chicken-stork of doom has risen!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
captainjimmbob [2016-04-07 02:07:57 +0000 UTC]
Well, I was thoroughly confused at first.
I thought you had adopted some crazy theory about Balaur bondoc being a pterosaur, but then I read the description.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
randomdinos In reply to captainjimmbob [2016-04-08 01:09:58 +0000 UTC]
I thought you had adopted some crazy theory about Balaur bondoc being a pterosaur
Oh my Godzilla I would be Theropoda's David Peters.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1