The fragmentary fossil of a truly enormous pterosaur has been found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. This formidable predator may have had a wingspan of 36 feet—close to the size a small aircraft and rivalling the largest winged reptiles known from Europe and North America.

The newly found giant lived 70 million years ago in a warm, inland habitat that was arid but not quite as dry as today. This late Cretaceous landscape was replete with dinosaurs, and their babies might have made ideal food for the huge carnivore, which could walk well on all fours and probably stalked its prey on the ground.

Part of a mysterious group known as the azhdarchids, the animal was probably one of the