New pterosaur skeleton cast arrives just in time for ROMkids Weekends
This weekend, July 19 - 20, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) unveils the skeleton cast of the pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus northropi, one of the largest known flying creatures of all time. Measuring six metres (20 feet) long with a jaw-dropping wingspan of 12 metres (39 feet), as large as some small airplanes, the Quetzalcoatlus is the world’s largest pterosaur skeleton reconstruction as well as the largest pterosaur cast on display in a Canadian museum. This new specimen will be permanently displayed flying high above Hyacinth Gloria Chen Crystal Court at the entrance of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal.
This new installation marks the beginning of ROMkids Weekends running from July 19 to August 31. Programming runs from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm every Saturday and Sunday and features fun for the whole family with hands-on activities, crafts and performances inspired by a different ROM gallery and exhibition each weekend. Also, a special rarely-seen ROM artifact will be brought out of storage for one weekend only. ROMkids Weekends kicks off on July 19 with Dinos Weekend. Be among the first the see the Quetzalcoatlus northropi, the newest addition to the James and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs. See below for ROMkids Weekends programming.
Quetzalcoatlus Information:
The pterosaur skeleton is suspended 17 metres (55 feet) in the air above visitors walking below. It appears to be dynamically banking and gliding into the James and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs on Level 2 of the Lee-Chin Crystal, its mouth wide open, as if hunting for its next meal. The reconstruction is based on an enormous fossilized wing discovered in Big Bend National Park in Texas in 1971. The rest of the skeleton was created by enlarging another, more complete Quetzalcoatlus from the same area.
“Pterosaurs were a remarkably successful group of flying reptiles that ruled the skies while the dinosaurs dominated the land,” said Dr. David Evans, Associate Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology. “In terms of size, Quetzalcoatlus and its kin truly dwarf the largest birds and bats, the only other back-boned animals to have evolved powered flight.”
Pterosaurs, often referred to as pterodactyls, lived alongside the dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era (220-65 million years ago). The species Quetzalcoatlus (pronounced kwet-zel-KWAT-lus) lived in the Late Cretaceous period, near the end of the dinosaurs reign. One of the largest and last of all pterosaurs, it would have flown over the heads of familiar dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops. It was named after the Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl, the powerful creator and protector of our modern world. Its neck was extremely long with slender toothless jaws and a head topped by a long, bony crest. Although the species was huge in size, its hollow bones were almost paper-thin and may have weighed as little as 100 kilograms (220 pounds) in life.
Quetzalcoatlus could likely take off under its own power, but it probably spent much of its time soaring on air currents as opposed to flapping its wings to stay aloft. On the ground, it walked awkwardly on all four legs. The lifestyle of giant pterosaurs like Quetzalcoatlus is uncertain, but it likely hunted small prey like a heron or scavenged on the carcasses of dead dinosaurs.
ROMkids Weekends At-a-Glance:
July 19 – 20, Dinos Weekend
July 26 – 27, ROM Celebrates Scotiabank Caribana
August 2 – 3, Darwin Long Weekend
August 9 – 10, Out of this World Weekend
August 16 – 17, India Weekend
August 23 – 24, Archaeology Weekend
August 30 – 31, Egypt Weekend
For more information about ROMkids Weekends, please visit www.rom.on.ca/rom_kids.php
All programming is subject to change and is free with general admission.
ROMkids Weekends is generously supported by Vanbots Construction Corporation.