Hatzegopteryx/Segments

## HatzegopteryxHațeg Basin Wing

* Forests VII
* Islands II
* Islands VI
* Uncovered II

## Presence

* Forests (Segment 7)
	+ 1 adult male
* Islands (Segment 2)
	+ 4 adult males
	+ 3 adult females
* Islands (Segment 6)
	+ 2 adult males
	+ 1 adult female
* Flamboyant Flyers
	+ Stock footage from Forests
* Could Giant Pterosaurs Really Hunt on the Ground?
	+ Stock footage from Islands

 Main **Segments** Gallery

MainSegmentsGallery

These are Prehistoric Planet segments which feature ***Hatzegopteryx***.

## Forests

**Forests**, Segment VII
**Setting**
Hațeg Island, Romania

***“ Even by day, it's still dark in the understory of the dense forests, such as this one in Europe. Animals of any kind are difficult to distinguish. Yet, they're everywhere. Telmatosaurus seldom breaks cover. And equally inconspicuous, Zalmoxes, the last of a very ancient dinosaur lineage. This forest is one of their few remaining strongholds. Seven inches tall, baby Zalmoxes are no more than snacks for many predators... but snacks are nonetheless worth eating, so they have to be cautious. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Forests*
The seventh, final segment of the Forests takes place in the dark understory of a forest in Europe. As a *Telmatosaurus* keeps a low profile amongst the lush vegetation, five juvenile *Zalmoxes* warily look around, as they are about to cross a log over the river, out in a more open area of the forest. As they rush down a log, the last one to cross is suddenly snatched up and swallowed alive by a *Hatzegopteryx*.

***“ Hatzegopteryx stands 15 feet tall. It is in fact, a pterosaur, a reptile with wings that, here, as it stalks through the trees, it has to keep tightly folded. This forest, so rich in small creatures, is one of its regular hunting grounds. It stands on the southernmost edge of Europe. This is the heaviest animal ever to fly, and there is nowhere else here where it could open its gigantic wings, which are over 30 feet across. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Forests*
After gulping his snack down, the majestic pterosaur slowly weaves through the forest, at one point stopping by to check out one moss-covered tree before continuing his casual but regal walk, eventually making it to the beach, where he spreads his large wings, flapping them to keep them warmed up before picking at them, grooming himself.

***“ Many of the forest's permanent residents regularly come down here, because the plants are coated with sea spray, and are a welcome source of salt. Here, sauropods can meet one another, renewing family bonds, and creating new ones. But for Hatzegopteryx, the beach is a launching pad. Now, his wings will carry him to yet another forest where life proliferates more variously and more abundantly than anywhere else on our Prehistoric Planet. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Forests*
Some *Zalmoxes* are seen amongst the vegetation, looking around as *Telmatosauruses* feed on the salted vegetation, with one even licking a propped-up piece of wood on the beach. Two titanosaurs make their way down to the beach, affectionately rubbing their heads and necks against one another. And as the sun sets, *Hatzegopteryx* spreads his wings once more and finally leaves the island, flying off into the horizon.

## Islands

### Segment II

**Islands**, Segment II
**Setting**
Liburnia Formation, Trieste, Italy

**Filming Location**
Thetford Forest, Norfolk and Suffolk, England

In the second segment of Islands, by the small islands of southern Europe, a herd of strange, elusive herbivores graze through a field of pine saplings. These creatures, known as *Tethyshadros*, are just a quarter of their mainland cousins, the adults standing no taller than a human being. For a moment, all is peaceful, with the herd foraging through the tough vegetation with their unique, serrated bills. But as the breeze blows, an air of unease takes hold of the island. One adult, sensing threats around, rears up and finds, to its horror, a flock of *Hatzegopteryx* coming down from the sky. The entire herd panics as the azhdarchids, numbering around four males and three females, land and gallop after them (with one of the hunters even grabbing a juvenile upon landing). Most of the herd's members rush to the safety of the forest, where the trees are too tightly-packed for their pursuers to come through, thwarting the pterosaurs and causing one male to bellow in frustration. Not all *Tethyshadros* have escaped to the safety of the woods, however, with three juveniles left hiding in the fields.

***“ The youngsters' best hope is to stay completely still... and not to run. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Islands*
From the forest, the mother of the juveniles calls out to her children. Due to this, the predators realized that there are still some hadrosaurs out there that they can still hunt, prompting them to try and scour the clearing to flush out prey that might still be there, with the fearful juvenile hadrosaurs trying to stay completely still. As one male *Hatzegopteryx* approaches their hiding spot, one baby *Tethyshadros* panics and tries to run for the forest, with the rest following suit now that their cover is blown. One juvenile is promptly snatched up by the male *Hatzegopteryx*, while two other juvenile *Tethyshadros* make it back to their mother during the commotion. A female *Hatzegopteryx* tries to grab the male's hard-earned catch, only for the male to turn away and swallow the juvenile as the female continues to pester him.

***“ These two are lucky to be back with their mother... the island-hopping pterosaurs move on to try their luck elsewhere. The hadrosaurs can return to feeding. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Islands*
After what appears to be a brief conversation via the clacking of beaks, the *Hatzegopteryx* males agree to leave for another island. One by one, they fly off to hunt elsewhere, with the last of the four males carrying yet another dead juvenile *Tethyshadros* in his beak. When all the azhdarchids have finally left, the *Tethyshadros* herd leave their forest sanctuary to continue grazing.

### Segment VI

**Islands**, Segment VI
**Setting**
Hațeg Island, Romania

**Filming Location**
An island in Maldives

***“ Some islands are so small, that they have no large land-living residents. But they may nonetheless get visitors. Hatzegopteryx. This male has arrived carrying a 40-pound Tethyshadros carcass, a prize from a recent hunt. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Islands*
In the sixth and last segment of Islands, an older male *Hatzegopteryx*, sporting a brightly-colored crest of vibrant yellows and blues, lands on the island with an 18-kilogram (40-pound) juvenile *Tethyshadros*. However, he hasn't come here to enjoy this meal in peace. Instead, he surrounds his catch with wood picked up from the beach to form a ceremonial nest of sorts, spreading and flapping his massive wings over to entice passing females to mate with him.

***“ He has constructed a display to make it clear to any females passing overhead that he is looking for a mate. But he might have a very long wait before he gets a response... at last, a female. She seems interested, but a little more persuasion might be necessary. And he needs to be careful. One well-aimed peck from her beak could quickly bring his mating season to an end. His display must demonstrate that he has the good genes that her young would do well to inherit. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Islands*
When one arrives, he lifts up the dead *Tethyshadros* to prove that he is a great hunter, and that he is also strong for having flown a great distance to bring the body there. While impressive, simply proving his strength is not enough. To convince her some more, he displays his crest and courts the female with enticing grunts, clacks, and head movements, gestures that the female appears to reciprocate well. Following a synchronized dance where both of them repeatedly clack their beaks against each other softly and stare up at the sky, he seems to have established trust with the female.

***“ Another male. He's much younger, but he could still be a rival. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Islands*
Suddenly, a younger male *Hatzegopteryx*, sporting the usual color scheme, lands down, and slowly approaches the couple. Enraged, the older male bellows and charges at the new arrival, catching the younger male completely off-guard and forcing him to slowly retreat. The older male aggressively snaps at him repeatedly and ends up grabbing his right wing. Grunting in pain, the younger male decides to back out and flies off, the older male bellowing at him to ensure that he doesn't return. In the chaos, the female flew off due to the commotion, with the old male believing that his chance is gone. Fortunately, the female returned, having seen the older male's successful assault as more proof of his eligibility.

***“ She's back. Seeing off a potential rival might even be another point in his favor. He continues from where he left off. One last reminder of his strength... and this is his only contribution to fatherhood. It's all over in just a few seconds... but it's the start of the next generation of these giant flying hunters. Islands like this may only be small, but like countless others around the world, they bear witness to crucial moments in the lives of some of the most unusual creatures on the Prehistoric Planet. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Islands*
After mating with the female in a relatively short span of time (with this being his only contribution to fatherhood), the female flies off as the male grooms himself and starts the courtship ritual again, ready to attract more females.

## Prehistoric Planet: Uncovered - Flamboyant Flyers

  **Flamboyant Flyers**
**Subject**
The diversity and purpose of pterosaur crests, as well as their mating strategies.

**Experts**
Dr. Darren Naish, Dr. Liz Martin-Silverstone
Footage of *Hatzegopteryx* from Forests is briefly used in this Uncovered segment, which is dedicated to the discussion of the extraordinary head crests seen on pterosaurs. It seems quite surprising that an animal meant for flight has what appears to be a large, cumbersome structure on its head. It is believed that these crest played a role in sexual selection and display, with the larger, more impressive crests belonging to older male specimens. This can be seen on the show, where the male *Hatzegopteryxes* have thin, tall blade-like crests that even change color and become more vibrant specifically for the mating season as seen in the final segment of Islands, while females only bear a low, yellow ridge atop their heads, resembling the low crest seen on *Phosphatodraco*.

## Prehistoric Planet: Uncovered - Could Giant Pterosaurs Really Hunt on the Ground?

  **Could Giant Pterosaurs Really Hunt on the Ground?**
**Subject**
Where and how azhdarchid pterosaurs preferred to hunt, and their competency in terrestrial locomotion.

**Experts**
Dr. Mark Witton, Dr. Darren Naish
***“ One of the most interesting - because they are the most bizarre - are the azhdarchid pterosaurs, and to try and describe what an azhdarchid pterosaur is like is very difficult. They stand as tall as giraffes, they've got heads that may have been 2 meters long, wingspans of 10 meters... they're just some of the most bizarre things to have ever evolved on Earth. ”***

― **Dr. Mark Witton**, *Paleoartist & Paleontologist*
The segment, using footage of *Quetzalcoatlus* and *Hatzegopteryx* (alongside other pterosaurs in the series), brings special attention to what may be considered the weirdest of the pterosaurs, the azhdarchids. Despite their size, they are stated to be well-adapted for taking flight. The question at hand is why it is believed they can hunt on the ground.

As with all pterosaurs, azhdarchids have wings supported by an elongated fourth finger, with the membrane traveling from the tip of this finger to the top of the hind leg. While this gives them massive wings that allow them to traverse great distances, they weren't agile enough to make flexible twists and turns in the air, so they couldn't have pursued other flying animals. The segment also tackles the prevalent idea of azhdarchids skimming the water to feed like the black skimmer, a type of seabird, pushing the lower jaws through the water to crash them into prey, able to withstand the forces generated with a neck built to absorb sudden impacts. Azhdarchids don't have any of the necessary adaptations to feed this way, and the strain of trying to do so would only end up breaking their necks.

***“ These tracks show they held their limbs directly under their body, giving them an upright stance. Their feet were padded, and unlike the small pterosaurs, their long legs gave them an enormous stride. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Prehistoric Planet: Uncovered - Could Giant Pterosaurs Really Hunt on the Ground?*
Without the capability to hunt aerial or aquatic prey, this meant that the only option left for azhdarchids is to hunt on the ground. The largest pterosaur tracks ever known, made 66 million years ago by a walking azhdarchid in South Korea, prove how efficiently they can move on the ground. Given their competent terrestrial walking ability, stork-like face, and throats half a meter (20 inches) wide, it is almost certain that they are predators that walked around and reached down to grab animals, with even human-sized creatures considered as viable prey. With this, while they are awe-inspiring in flight, azhdarchids can prove more impressive and terrifying on the ground.

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## Trivia

### Forests

The last segment of Forests, which shows *Hatzegopteryx* making his way from the forest down to the beach before departing for another island, mirrors the first segment of Coasts, which is focused on a family of *Tyrannosaurus* swimming from a beach on the mainland to a forested island just a short distance from the shoreline, thus ending the first season of Prehistoric Planet in the same way it began, with the protagonist of the segment traveling across the sea.

### Islands

#### Segment II

* *Hatzegopteryx* is only known from Hațeg Island (now Hațeg Basin), Romania. However, just as how *Quetzalcoatlus* is shown in the Freshwater episode flying from North America to South Africa to lay eggs in ideal soil, *Hatzegopteryxes* are depicted as "island-hopping pterosaurs", visiting various islands like the Liburnia Formation to hunt prey.
	+ While this is more plausible due to the significantly shorter distance traveled from Romania to Italy, conversely, flight does not necessarily mean that an animal would travel even short distances to hunt on another island (for example, the now-extinct Haast's Eagles, also flying apex predators enlarged by insular gigantism, never attempted to visit or colonize the North Island of New Zealand, only staying on the South Island, though they did visit Stewart's Island further down south).
* While the show was being made, *Tethyshadros* was believed to have lived 70 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Period. However, in 2021, a study reevaluated the remains of the fossil and discovered that it lived 81 - 80 million years ago, during the Campanian stage. Because the discovery is made too late for the show to adjust, *Hatzegopteryx* is shown inaccurately hunting an animal that lived at least 10 - 15 million years before it lived.
	+ Even so, this scenario could have still played out in some form. A relative of *Tethyshadros* called *Fylax thyrakolasus* lived in Spain around 66 million years ago, and the remains of *Hatzegopteryx*, or, at least, azhdarchids of similar size, have been found across Europe.

#### Segment VI

* While the full extent of sexual dimorphism is unknown in *Hatzegopteryx* itself, sexual dimorphism is apparent in many other pterosaurs, and Dr. Darren Naish, lead consultant of Prehistoric Planet, brings up how, not only is sexual dimorphism the logical conclusion for azhdarchoids, but also that melanosomes in azhdarchoid crests serve as further proof of their use as display structures, hence, the old male *Hatzegopteryx* with its special breeding season coloration is not unusual given how this can also be seen in living animals like lizards and birds.
* Of all the segments it appeared in (not counting its Uncovered segment), this is the only one where *Hatzegopteryx* doesn't hunt or eat its prey onscreen. Instead, the male brings with him a juvenile *Tethyshadros* he already killed prior to the events of the segment to impress females. The young *Tethyshadros* is not consumed by either the male or the female throughout the courtship ritual, allowing the male to reuse the dead dinosaur as proof of his strength for several more mating attempts.
* This is the seventh segment to feature a courtship ritual.
* This is the sixth segment to feature intraspecific combat, and the third one to result in the older individual winning.
	+ Just as how this segment brings back the *Hatzegopteryx* leitmotif introduced in seventh segment of Forests, the brief duel between the two males reprises the quick-paced, tribal drumming theme that played for the *Quetzalcoatlus* duel in Freshwater, cementing it as the theme for azhdarchid combat.

## References

### Dr. Darren Naish

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Hatzegopteryx* was likely an island-hopping pterosaur, an idea backed up by the remains of similar azhdarchids found across Europe.
2. ↑ *Tethyshadros* did not come from the Maastrichtian, but instead from the Campanian Stage of the Late Cretaceous Period.
3. ↑ *Tethyshadros* likely had Maastrichtian relatives or descendants like it.
4. ↑ Sexual dimorphism is inferred for azhdarchoids, and melanosomes on azhdarchoid crests indicate how colorful they were, further supporting their role in sexual display.

### Prehistoric Planet

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 I Know Dino: The Big Dinosaur Podcast, Episode 443: Dinosaurs on Islands. Featuring Prehistoric Planet 2