Researchers in Argentina have unearthed the largest pterosaur species ever found in South America. Dubbed "dragon of death" by paleontologists, two giant flying reptiles were discovered in the Plottier Formation, an outcrop located in the province of Mendoza.
The two specimens' wingspans measured approximately 23 feet (7 meters) wide and 30 feet (9 m) wide, respectively. Researchers confirmed that they are azhdarchids, a family of pterosaurs that lived during the end of the Cretaceous period (approximately 146 million to 66 million years ago).
"Azhdarchids were known for their very large skulls — sometimes larger than their bodies — as well as their hyper-elongated necks and short, robust bodies," Leonardo D. Ortiz David, lead author of a new study describing the enormous pterosaurs and coordinator general of Argentina's Laboratory and Museum of Dinosaurs in Mendoza, told Live Science in an email.
