Dragon dinosaur. Like Turu the Terrible (that was another Q…more on that in a sec).
Quetzalcoatlus was the largest flying animal ever discovered. Fifty foot wingspan, like a small aircraft. In fact, the first paleontologist named it Q. northropi after–you might guess it– a Northrop aircraft. Massive jaws. As a tall as a giraffe. 500 pounds.
Not, technically, a dinosaur. No anorbital fenestra, wrong kind of hips. Q. northropi belonged under the group called pterosaurs, flying reptiles that had branched off the reptile line before the dinosaurs were completely upright.
But who cares? Look at the size of the wings!
Plus, the perfect candidate for a “Q.”
The First “Q” I Thought Of
When I was laying out my A to Z grid, I original thought of the TV show “Jonny Quest,” because it was a favorite when I was a kid, and it had that super creepy pterodactyl on it. “Turu the Terrible,” he was named. He was carrying off some generic natives, i.e. indigenous people in South America. The adventure-science foursome traced him back to his handler, another old creepy guy in a wheelchair.
What was remarkable about the 1960s Quest was that it was relatively accurate, for its time. Not accurate so much–it was a cartoon and generally used the “monster of the week” formula. But it did try to be a little scientific, and while pterodactyls don’t still exist, Turu was about the right size. He walked awkwardly on his hands and feet, like a chimpanzee, but the way such creatures walked.
And that bizarre throat warbling cry. Still creeps me out. If you’ve never seen any “Jonny Quest” episodes, I do recommend them. Consider the context. At the time, so much information about dinosaurs was outdated and had still had them lumbering and dragging their tails. “Turu” was pretty innovative for its time.
Continue reading “Q is for Quetzalcoatlus”
