Giant Flying Reptiles Ruled Ancient Transylvania
Palaeontologists examined the creature’s unusual gigantic neck vertebra and believe it was a formidable carnivore and major predator that terrorised dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals of Cretaceous-age Transylvania. It provides the first evidence of large predatory animals in the region at that time.
Dr Mark Witton, from the University of Portsmouth and Dr Darren Naish from University of Southampton, both in the UK, examined several fossilised remains of the creature, known as Hatzegopteryx, which belongs to the flying reptile group Azhdarchidae.
Hatzegopteryx, depicted here as a short-necked, powerful predator, consumes the dwarfed dinosaur Zalmoxes in Late Cretaceous Romania.
Credit: Dr Mark Witton, University of Portsmouth
He said: “The difference in structural properties between giant azhdarchid neck bones is remarkable – they’re in different biomechanical leagues, with Hatzegopteryx many times stronger than anything else on record. This, along with our calculations of neck length and muscle mass, suggests giant azhdarchids may have been radically different in appearance and behaviour.
“The large, reinforced skeleton and muscle power would have made it a formidable predator of other animals when stalking ancient prairies and woodlands. It may have even been capable of attacking animals too large or vigorous for other flying reptiles, even the other giants.”
A giraffe and human show the scale of a long-necked azhdarchid Arambourgiania (centre) and the ‘new look’ short-necked Hatzegopteryx (right).
Dr Witton said that Hatzegopteryx lived in a peculiar island ecosystem where many of the dinosaurs were dwarfed or belonged to relict lineages extinct in the rest of the Cretaceous world. “Ancient Transylvania was a strange place for a number of reasons, including the fact that we’ve yet to find evidence of large predatory animals that lived alongside Hatzegopteryx, such as giant carnivorous dinosaurs. This is despite centuries of sampling.”
The study thus potentially provides an answer to a mystery about life in Late Cretaceous Romania.
“Perhaps without large predators to challenge them, this island provided an opportunity for giant pterosaurs – already formidable animals – to become the dominant predators,” said Dr Witton.
“The finer details of ecology and lifestyle for Hatzegopteryx remain unknown because we’re still working from scraps of its skeleton, but the emerging picture of its lifestyle are fascinating. In some respects our unexpected findings highlight how little we actually know about these animals. We’ve had these scrappy remains for years, but we need to ask the right questions, and perform the right tests, to realise their significance. Future giant pterosaur research and discoveries almost certainly have many more surprises for us.”
The research was published in PeerJ: https://peerj.com/articles/2908/
Read more on Dr Witton’s blog: http://markwitton-com.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/new-paper-when-short-necked-giant.html
Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2017/02/giant-flying-reptiles-ruled-ancient.html
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