Savannah: Quetzalocoatlas was a pterosaur as tall as a giraffe and bigger than the biggest flying birds. But many pterosaurs researchers are convinced they could fly, and it's thanks to the different ways birds and pterosaurs evolved powered flight.

So, birds take off like this: they use their legs to get airborne and then their wings to actually fly, so it's like - [jumps, then flaps fiercely] like that. That means their big, heavy leg muscles have to be carried around as they fly, so it's basically dead weight.

But paleontologists think that pterosaurs took off more like vampire bats off of their forelimbs; they kind of did a burpee, so it was more like [demonstrates], but like, up. That way, they can use the same muscles to take off *and* to fly, and that makes the animal lighter overall.

So, sorry birds, pterosaurs have you beat in the body plan department, and that means they get to be the biggest flyers of all time!

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