Quetzalcoatlus is a relatively recent discovery. In the 1970s, Douglas Lawson and colleagues discovered several pterosaur skeletons, including a gigantic wing bone, in Big Bend National Park, Texas. In 1975 Lawson described the huge wing as a new species, Quetzalcoatlus northropi, a pterosaur he described as “the largest flying creature”. This pterosaur has since become one of the most famous of its kind and is housed in the Texas Memorial Museum at Austin.

Quetzalcoatlus had a large head with long, toothless jaws and a long, thin neck. It’s small, fuzzy body supported its winged arms, which could grow to an impressive wingspan of up to 35 ft.