Dragon of Death

Remnants of a giant flying reptile have been unearthed in the Andes mountains of Argentina. The monster had a 30-foot wingspan that it used to terrorize lesser creatures from the skies some 86 million years ago.

“This species had a height similar to that of a giraffe," project leader Leonardo Ortiz told the BBC, with a wingspan that “defies the limits of our biological understanding.”

Ortiz was among the paleontologists who discovered the first fossils of this species in Argentina 2012. He hit on the species name Thanatosdrakon amaru, combining the Greek words for death and dragon.

"It seemed appropriate to name it that way," Ortiz said. "It's the dragon of death."

The fossils were unearthed in Argentina's western Mendoza province and date back to the Cretaceous period, roughly 20 million years before a big asteroid touched down 4000 miles to the north, wiping out the dinosaurs. Even though the dragon of death may have been the first predator to hunt from the sky, the paleontologists believe it spent most of its time on the ground.

Because they found fossilized remains of two different specimens at the same site, the scientists think the big beasts might have hung out in groups. Their findings appear in a recent issue of Cretaceous Research.

Photo Credit: Leonardo Ortiz