Giant Flying Reptile Preyed On Dinosaurs And Other Animals In Romania

Scientists believe that a giant flying reptile known as Hatzegopteryx, a pterosaur big as a plane, preyed on dinosaurs and other animals in Romania during the Cretaceous period. It was considered the largest and most feared predator in ancient Transylvania.

The study was led by Dr. Mark Witton of the University of Portsmouth and other colleagues. He told the Fox News that they suspected that some giant pterosaurs were terrestrial foragers for a while now. On the other hand, the idea that one could be a stocky, powerful apex predator is not something anyone would have speculated even a few years ago. He further said that it was not that long ago that the idea of a pterosaur occupying a dominant ecological role would have been laughable.

Enigmatic Pterosaur Was a Terrestrial Stalker - Hatzegopteryx @Laelaps @tetzoo @MarkWitton https://t.co/cDOmP66pHt pic.twitter.com/71sB9Pd1LG

— Mostly Mammoths (@MostlyMammoths) January 23, 2017

Hatzegopteryx was the biggest pterosaurs that had an approximate wingspan of 10 to 12 meters (33 to 39 feet). It belonged to the genus azhdarchid pterosaur that was found in Transylvania, Romania. Some fossils had been found including a skull, humerus and a neck vertebra with the range of sizes in 2002.

One reason why Hatzegopteryx became the dominant predator in ancient Romania is because of the dynamic of the area itself, which that time had a strange island ecosystem where few predators could compare in size to the winged reptile. Witton explained that the rocks yielding Hatzegopteryx fossils have been studied for hundreds of years, and to date, no evidence of a large predator (other than Hatzegopteryx) has been found. He further explained that there are no giant predatory dinosaurs, no enormous crocodilians and not even a single tooth from one of them.

Other fossils of small predators have been found from these sites. The researchers concluded that without any other large predators to compete with, the Hatzegopteryx, which had massive beak and wingspan and solid build, was the dominant one during the Cretaceous age.