Today’s #megafauna is the #cryodrakon! This large #pterosaur lived in Alberta, Canada between 74 and 77 million years ago. At the time, the land supported a temperate forest that would have provided the cryodrakon with plenty of mammals, lizards, and baby dinosaurs to snack on. Like #quetzelcoatlus, cryodrakon was a member of azhdarchidae: a family of late #cretaceous pterosaurs characterized by long legs and necks. Most members of this family are very large, and cryodrakon had a wingspan of 33 feet.

For a long time, cryodrakon fossils were confused for quetzelcoatlus fossils. This was exacerbated by the delayed publication of a full description of quetzelcoatlus. However, the discovery of several European azhdarchidae species allowed for additional differentiation. When the original quetzelcoatlus bones became available to view, it became clear that cryodrakon was species distinct from its Southern cousin. In fact, crydrakon was apparently more robust than quetzelcoatlus, making it perhaps the largest pterosaur ever.