Around sixty-eight million years ago, something massive was patrolling the vast open plains and wide skylines of America. Over the heads of mighty titanosaurs flew the titanosaur equivalent of a pterosaur, the colossal Quetzalcoatlus. This is an animal almost incomparable to anything alive in the twenty-first century, with its long, snaking neck, giant wings, and long, sharp beak.

It ultimately survived to the end of the Mesozoic Era, around the time the Cretaceous extinction marked the end of all the non-avian dinosaurs the world over. It would go on to surrender the skies to the birds of the Cenozoic Era, where it was succeeded by the giant pelagornids and teratorns, huge birds with wingspans larger still than anything alive today. As big as these huge birds were able to grow, none of them could match the sheer size of Quetzalcoatlus, the largest flying animal ever to exist on Planet Earth.

In this video, we will be exploring the life of this colossal pterosaur—everything from the way it lived and how it looked, right up to the point it was discovered and described over sixty million years later. We will take a look at the environment in which Quetzalcoatlus lived, the different species within the genus, and the controversies surrounding its discovery. Sit back and relax as we take flight with a true giant of the skies.