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Colossal Creature
This drawing shows a giant pterosaur, a huge flying reptile that lived alongside dinosaurs.
Scientists recently announced a big discovery in the Gobi Desert in Asia. There they uncovered the remains of an enormous winged reptile called a giant pterosaur (TER-oh-sawr). It had a 10-meter (32-foot) wingspan, making it one of the largest living things ever to take flight.
Pterosaurs lived alongside the dinosaurs more than 100 million years ago. They were the earliest vertebrates, or animals with backbones, that were able to fly.
The remains of giant pterosaurs have previously been found in Europe and South America. This is the first giant pterosaur fossil found in Asia. “It shows that pterosaurs existed around the world,” says Takanobu Tsuihiji, an earth scientist at the University of Tokyo in Japan who examined the fossil.
Here’s how the giant pterosaur measures up to the average adult person.