Context

Cryodrakon boreas, the largest flying animal was a plane-sized reptile

About

• New species of pterosaur, the plane-sized reptiles that lorded over primeval skies above T-rex, Triceratops and other dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous.
• With a wingspan of 10 m and weighing 250 kg, Cryodrakon boreas rivals another pterosaur as the largest flying animal of all time
• Its remains were first discovered more than 30 years ago in Alberta, Canada, yet elicited scant excitement because of the misclassification.
• Like other winged reptiles living at the same time, about 77 million years ago, boreas was carnivorous and probably fed on lizards, small mammals and even baby dinosaurs.
• Despite their large size and wide distribution across North and South America, Asia, Africa and Europe only fragmentary remains have been unearthed, making the new find especially important.