Re: Last of the Pterosaurs

[Danvarner@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/1/00 3:59:19 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
dbensen@gotnet.net writes:

<< That's weird, because I saw a lifesized model of a Quetzalcoatlus in the 
Museum of the
 Rockies, and I was surprised at how little it was.  They had reconstructed 
it standing
 bipedally (a stance we know it couldn't have held, but it looked cool) and 
it looked like
 an exceptionally tall and lanky person.  Tall, but certainly not large.  
Maybe the
 pterosaur only looked small next to the life-size Maiasaura on the other 
side of the
 room. >>
  I recently had the opportunity to view and photograph a new cast of the 
skeleton of Quetzalcoatlus at the Science Museum of Minnesota, and I can 
assure you that it is immense and must have been a startling sight in the 
Cretaceous sky. One clue to the scale is that one has to search for the 
orbits--a feature that is usually very obvious in pterosaur skulls. Their 
cast shadows would have been most impressive. Dan Varner.