page_title: Eurazhdarcho
section_title: Palaeobiology
hierarchical_section_title: Eurazhdarcho / Palaeobiology
caption_attribution_description: English: Map to show the global distribution of faunas containing small-medium and giant-sized azhdarchids, evidence for niche partioning. Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 108–66 Ma
context_page_description: Eurazhdarcho is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of what is now the Transylvanian Basin of Romania.
context_section_description: The area where Eurazhdarcho was found, in the Upper Cretaceous was localised on the Hațeg Island, part of the European Archipelago. The SbG-B site, though encompassing a surface of just 200 m³, has yielded several distinct animal species among which the turtle Kallokibotion bajazidi, the hadrosaur Telmatosaurus and a form referred to the titanosaur Magyarosaurus. This terrestrial fauna suggests that Eurazdarcho was not a coastal piscivore catching fish on the wing, affirming the "superstork" model for azhdarchids, in which they are terrestrial stalkers snatching small prey animals while walking on all fours.
  If Eurazhdarcho was indeed distinct from Hatzegopteryx, its discovery implies the presence of two azhdarchid forms in the Hațeg fauna, the one gigantic, the other medium-sized. This suggests a niche partitioning between them, although it is as yet unclear how this correlates with differences in prey preference and hunting techniques. This reflects a pattern seen in other Late Cretaceous faunae which also show a combination of a large azhdarchid species with a smaller one. The Javelina Formation from the Maastrichtian of Texas has brought forth the giant Quetzalcoatlus northropi but also a smaller Quetzalcoatlus sp. and the azhdarchoid represented by specimen TMM 42489-2. The Two Medicine Formation fauna from the Campanian of Montana includes the smaller Montanazhdarcho minor, with a wingspan of 2.5 metres, but also fragments of larger forms with a span of eight metres. In the coeval Dinosaur Park Formation of Canada the smaller specimen RTMP 92.83 was discovered with a wingspan of five to six metres but also the large specimen PMA P.80.16.1367 indicating a ten metre wide animal.
caption: Map of azhdarchid sites with size distinction
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