Mega-Cool Megafauna: Creatures of the Ancient Skies
The Ancient Skies A life-size model of a Hatzegopteryx a giant flying dinosaur is displayed in front of the State Museum of Natural History in v Germany 4
Only three kinds of modern living things can fly on their own insects bats and birds In the ancient skies however there was another pterosaurs This word means wing lizards These giants took to the air long before humans were ever around How do we know about ancient megafauna It usually starts with people finding a fossil Romania Dracula In 2009 scientists discovered small pieces of preserved bones in Transylvania Romania The scientists determined that they belonged to a pterosaur with a wingspan of 39 feet 12 meters They named it Hatzegopteryx but they also nicknamed it Dracula after the famous Transylvanian vampire 5
Ancient skies were once filled with animals much larger than the ones we see today In the ancient skies creatures flew above land and sea What did they see as they looked down long ago Scientists say that 299 million to 273 million years ago there was only one continent They called it Pangaea This continent was surrounded by an ocean they have named Panthalassa Over time the land moved and new continents formed The oceans around these continents were given new names Today people recognize seven continents and five oceans 6
Pangaea Asia Europe Europe Europe NorthNorth North North America America America America Africa South America Antarctica Panthalassa Australia From One Ocean to Five The Pacific Ocean the Atlantic Ocean the Arctic Ocean and the Indian Ocean are the oldest named oceans In 2000 the Southern Ocean circling Antarctica was named by the International Hydrographic Organization The World Today Arctic Ocean North America Europe Europe Europe Asia Atlantic Ocean South America Africa Southern Ocean Pacific Ocean Indian Ocean Australia Antarctica 7
