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It’s not only the largest and most powerful flying dinosaur ever found – it also belongs to a completely new genus of pterosaurs.
Scientists and paleontologists are talking about a sensation, because it’s different from all other fossils excavated so far.
Half a ton in weight, and with a wing-span of up to 20 metres.
His nickname “Dracula” comes from where he was discovered in 2009 SebeÅŸ, Transylvania (Romania).
In the Altmühltal Dinosaur Museum (Germany/Bavaria), the Pterosaur is going to be presented to the public for the very first time.
Editor Notes:
Dinosaur Museum Altmuehltal exhibits real Dracula
The special pterodactyl exhibition "Emperors of the Skies" presents a pterosaur with a physique that is
different from other previously-known species.
Well-preserved remains show that this is the largest and most
robust pterodactyl ever found.
Denkendorf, March 22. The special pterosaur exhibition "Emperors of the Skies" presented by the Altmuehltal
Dinosaur Museum features 24 important exhibits from the Altmuehl Jurassic along with a sensational find from
Transylvania. Nicknamed "Dracula" because of its origin in Transylvania, this pterosaur has a physique that is
different from other previously known species. Because of its excellently preserved remains, researchers
conclude that it is the most powerful pterodactyl ever excavated.
"The carpal bone alone was larger than that of
a mammoth, and the neck was the width of a full-grown man," says paleontologist Mátyás Vremir, member of
the Transylvanian Museum Society.
He discovered the first bone on a steep slope near the Romanian town of SebeÈ™ in 2009.
Scientists estimate Dracula's weight to be at least half a ton and its wingspan at more than 12 meters. "The
pterodactyl may have had a wingspan of up to 20 meters, and standing upright, it was probably as tall as a
giraffe," says Mark Norell, Curator, Division Chair and Professor Division of Paleontology at the American
Museum of Natural History in New York. Norell was involved in the excavations in Romania.
"No large predators were found in the region around the site, which was probably a subtropical island landscape
in the Cretaceous period. We assume that he was at the top of the food chain," explains Raimund Albersdörfer,
an excavator and geologist who was involved and financed the work for many years.
Like T. rex that ruled another continent at the same time, "Dracula" was a witness and victim of the mass extinction of dinosaurs.
"This sensation underscores the Dinosaur Museum Altmuehltal's claim to be one of the world's most important
exhibition venues for prehistoric times," says museum founder Michael Völker. The "Emperors of the Skies"
exhibition is open from March 23 to November 4, 2018.
ENDS
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Footage from the press meeting
"Dracula" being set up in the museum
Pictures of the excavations in Transylvania
Interviews: Mátyás Vremir, the man who found "Dracula",
Michael Völker, founder and owner of the Altmühltal Dinosaur Museum,
Raimund Albersdörfer, Altmühltal partner of the Dinosaur Museum, excavator and geologist
Source: Altmühltal Dinosaur Museum. Dinopark 1, 85095 Denkendorf
22 March 2018
