A new study of neck biomechanics in Neck biomechanics indicate that giant Transylvanian azhdarchid pterosaurs were short-necked arch predators.
Azhdarchid pterosaurs include the largest animals to ever take to the skies with some species exceeding 10 metres in wingspan and 220 kg in mass. Associated skeletons show that azhdarchids were long-necked, long-jawed predators that combined a wing planform suited for soaring with limb adaptations indicative of quadrupedal terrestrial foraging. The postcranial proportions of the group have been regarded as uniform overall, irrespective of their overall size, notwithstanding suggestions that minor variation may have been present.
Like all azhdarchid pterosaurs, Hatzegopteryx was probably a terrestrially foraging generalist predator. It is significantly larger than any other terrestrial predator from Maastrichtian Europe; due to its large size in an environment otherwise dominated by island dwarf dinosaurs, with no large hypercarnivorous theropods in the region, it has been suggested that Hatzegopteryx played the role of an apex predator in the Haţeg Island ecosystem. The robust anatomy of Hatzegopteryx suggests that it may have tackled larger prey than other azhdarchids, including animals too large to swallow whole; similarly, some modern storks (particularly the marabou stork and the jabiru) are known to attack and kill large prey such as flamingoes, and occasionally children, with their beaks. Meanwhile, other giant azhdarchids like Arambourgiania would probably have instead fed on small prey (up to the size of a human), including hatchling or small dinosaurs and eggs. Another pterosaur, Thalassodromeus, has similarly been suggested to be raptorial.
Credit:
*https://peerj.com/articles/2908/
*en.wikipedia.com
*image - Mark Witton
