Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #hatzegopteryx
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Welcome to the 5th and final of my #PrehistoricPlanet threads in which I talk about the science and background to what we showed in this new @AppleTVPlus @bbcstudios production. This time we look at EP 5: FORESTS… #dinosaurs #Cretaceous 
I was lead scientific consultant on #PrehistoricPlanet and was extensively involved in our many decisions, all of which were science-led or scientifically informed. I was, of course, merely one among many in a HUGE team that involved hundreds of very talented people!
Ep 5 focuses on the #dinosaurs and #pterosaurs that lived in forests during the Maastrichtian (the final part of the Late #Cretaceous). The Maastrichtian world was heavily forested, with temperate, subtropical & tropical woodland covering around 78% of the land surface…
#Azhdarchids, a brief thread concentrating on my involvement with this amazing group of #pterosaurs. Azhdarchids have to be regarded as the most distinctive and unusual of pterosaur groups, and views on how they might have lived have varied considerably... (images by @MarkWitton)
In 2008, @MarkWitton and I examined the skeletal proportions, cranial anatomy and sedimentological setting of #azhdarchids and concluded that they were strongly adapted for quadrupedal walking in terrestrial settings....
They were likely striding predators of small and mid-sized prey, analogous to ground hornbills. We termed this the ‘terrestrial stalking’ model. See our #OA @PLOSONE paper A Reappraisal of Azhdarchid Pterosaur Functional Morphology and Paleoecology journals.plos.org/plosone/articl… cont...
#Megasquid (16 feet tall, 8 tons).
#VS
#Hatzegopteryx (33-36 foot wingspan, 18 feet tall, 500 pounds)
Who would win? #Debate #FutureIsWild #Planet #Dinosaur
#VS
#Hatzegopteryx (33-36 foot wingspan, 18 feet tall, 500 pounds)
Who would win? #Debate #FutureIsWild #Planet #Dinosaur
When I made this battle, I had thought that Hatzegopteryx was as tall as a giraffe, as presented in the documentary series "Planet Dinosaur" (seen below)
youtube.com/watch?v=FoE7dz…
youtube.com/watch?v=FoE7dz…
Indeed, this would have made it about as tall as Quetzalcoatlus, another giant pterosaur (one that, contrary to the "Planet Dinosaur", had a bit bigger wingspan that Hatzegopteryx. Its depiction is below).
