Back كويتزالكوتلس Arabic Quetzalcoatlus Bulgarian Quetzalcoatlus Catalan Quetzalcoatlus CEB Quetzalcoatlus Czech Quetzalcoatlus Danish Quetzalcoatlus German Kecalkoatlo (flugsaŭro) Esperanto Quetzalcoatlus Spanish Quetzalcoatlus Basque
| Quetzalcoatlus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian),
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| Skeletal mount of Q. northropi | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Family: | †Azhdarchidae |
| Subfamily: | †Quetzalcoatlinae |
| Genus: | †Quetzalcoatlus Lawson, 1975 |
| Type species | |
| †Quetzalcoatlus northropi Lawson, 1975
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| Other species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Quetzalcoatlus (/kɛtsəlkoʊˈætləs/) is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous in North America. The type specimen, recovered in 1971 from the Javelina Formation of Texas, United States, consists of several wing fragments and was described as Quetzalcoatlus northropi in 1975 by Douglas Lawson. The first part of the name refers to the Aztec serpent god of the sky, Quetzalcōātl, while the second part honors Jack Northrop, designer of a tailless fixed-wing aircraft. The remains of a second species were found between 1972 and 1974, also by Lawson, around 40 km (25 mi) from the Q. northropi locality. In 2021, these remains were assigned the name Quetzalcoatlus lawsoni by Brian Andres and (posthumously) Wann Langston Jr, as part of a series of publications on the genus.
Quetzalcoatlus northropi has gained fame as a candidate for the largest flying animal ever discovered, though estimating its size has been difficult due to the fragmentary nature of the only known specimen. While wingspan estimates over the years have ranged from 5.2–25.8 m (17–85 ft), more recent estimates hover around 10–11 m (33–36 ft). The smaller and more complete Q. lawsoni had a wingspan of around 4.5 m (15 ft). Uniquely among azhdarchids, Q. lawsoni had a small head crest, an extension of the premaxilla. Two different forms have been identified: one had a rectangular head crest and a taller nasoantorbital fenestra (a structure combining the naris and antorbital fenestra in many pterosaurs), and the other had a more rounded head crest and a shorter nasoantorbital fenestra. The proportions of Quetzalcoatlus behind the skull were typical of azhdarchids, with a very long neck and beak, shortened non-wing digits that were well adapted for walking, and a very short tail.
Historical interpretations of the diet of Quetzalcoatlus have ranged from scavenging to skim-feeding like the modern skimmer bird. However, more recent research has found that it most likely hunted small prey on the ground, in a similar way to storks and ground hornbills. This has been dubbed the terrestrial stalking model and is thought to be a common feeding behavior among large azhdarchids. On the other hand, the second species, Q. lawsoni, appears to have been associated with alkaline lakes, and a diet of small aquatic invertebrates has been suggested. Similarly, while Q. northropi is speculated to have been fairly solitary, Q. lawsoni appears to have been highly gregarious (social). Azhdarchids like Quetzalcoatlus were highly terrestrial by pterosaur standards, though even the largest were nonetheless capable of flight. Based on the work of Mark P. Witton and Michael Habib in 2010, it now seems likely that pterosaurs, especially larger taxa such as Quetzalcoatlus, launched quadrupedally (from a four-legged posture), using the powerful muscles of their forelimbs to propel themselves off the ground and into the air.