Meet 'Cold Dragon of the North Winds,' the Giant Pterosaur That Once Soared Across Canadian Skies

[Judi Lynn]

By Mindy Weisberger - Senior Writer 6 hours ago Animals

Oh, Canada! A newfound pterosaur species is the country's first giant flying reptile

Millions of years ago, a flying reptile as big as an airplane took flight in what is now Canada.

Now, this enormous species of giant pterosaur — part of a group known as azhdarchids — finally has a name: Cryodrakon boreas, drawing from the ancient Greek words that translate to "cold dragon of the north winds."

Fossils of Cryodrakon boreas were found decades ago, and were thought to belong to another North American azhdarchid: Quetzalcoatlus, one of the biggest flying animals of all time. But the discovery of additional fossils in recent years told scientists that the fossils represented a newfound species, and the first new species of giant pterosaur found in Canada.

Based on the size of one enormous neck bone thought to belong to an adult animal, the newly described pterosaur likely had a wingspan extending about 33 feet (10 meters) from tip to tip, making it comparable in size to its monstrous azhdarchid cousin Quetzalcoatlus, researchers reported in a new study.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/pterosaur-biggest-flying-reptile.html?utm_source=notification

[calimary]

1. Wow!

[SCantiGOP]

2. Glad they're not still flying around

We would be like field mice to a hawk to one of those bad boys (or girls).

[Judi Lynn]

3. Massive flying reptiles once dominated the skies in North America, new fossils reveal

Mike Wehner @MikeWehner
September 10th, 2019 at 11:24 PM

If you were to travel back in time to an age when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, you’d have plenty of things to fear. Dinosaurs that ruled the land were often massive, and the oceans were dominated by creatures just as fearsome. The skies had their own fair share of impressive beasts, and newly-discovered fossils are helping to hammer that point home in dramatic fashion.

A new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology describes an ancient airborne reptile so huge it would rival some small airplanes today. The species, named Cryodrakan boreas, means “Frozen Dragon of the North,” just to give you an idea of the kind of creature we’re talking about.

Determining the existence of this new species was made possible thanks to a partial skeleton that was discovered in Alberta, Canada, in an area well known by fossil hunters. Oftentimes, scientists can work with just a few bones to build a picture of a larger creature, but the wealth of bones left over from this particular specimen helped the research team paint a much more vivid picture of just how massive these flying reptiles could get.

“This type of pterosaur (azhdarchids) is quite rare, and most specimens are just a single bone,” Michael Habib, co-author of the study, said in a statement. “Our new species is represented by a partial skeleton. This tells us a great deal about the anatomy of these large flyers, how they flew, and how they lived.”

More:
https://bgr.com/2019/09/10/frozen-dragon-fossils-pterosaur-canada/

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Take Off to the Great White North!

[cstanleytech]

5. Question is could they really fly or were they land bound like some species of birds?