Quetzalcoatlus Compared To Human
Jomega Gibson
I would like to know whether it would be possible for a sufficiently small humanoid to ride a Quetzalcoatlus, a species of pterosaur alive during the late Cretaceous. Plausible adaptations to the creatures themselves could be made, as I am not trying to directly copy Quetzalcoatlus bit by bit.
I want answers to consider how small would the humanoids have to be. Additionally, I believe there are other factors to consider other than weight when creating a rideable creature. Would a small humanoid on top of the quetzalcoatlus be detrimental to its balance?. Would it be able to fly while carrying the humanoid?
If you consider what percentages of their body weights present day bats and birds can carry in their mouths/beaks or rear claws, you could assume that a specific extinct flying animal like a Quetzelcoatlus could carry the same percentage of its body weight. Of course a rider weould probbly ride in some harness on the flying creatures back which might affect the weight it could carry.
I am sure that different species of birds can carry differnt maximum percentages of their body weights. And considering that many people are amazed that Quetzelcoatlus could fly at all, they might not accept that Quetzelcoatlus could carry an addiitonal weight in the same proportion that some modern birds could fly.
The average weight of adult humans varies from 57.7 kilograms (127.2 pounds) in Asia to 80.7 kilograms (177.9 pounds) in North America. It is also noticably higher amoung males than females. Thus female passengers from a low weight population would average significantly less than male passengers from a high weight population.
In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a population) for populations in which adult men are on average less than 150 cm (4 ft 11 in) tall.6
Thus it would be possible to have have a population of pygmy riders who weight about half as much as most adult humans and thus about 75 pounds, which would be 0.1363 to 0.1704 of the weight of a 440 to 550 pound Quetzelcoatlus.
So I can imagine a situation where normal sized children ride on quetzels for various puposes of greater or less importance but adults (except for rare dwarfs) are too heavy to do so. Or maybe at fairs kids can get rides on tethered quetzels.
Homo luzonensis, also locally called "Ubag" after a mythical caveman,2 is an extinct, possibly pygmy, species of archaic human from the Late Pleistocene of Luzon, the Philippines. Their remains, teeth and phalanges, are known only from Callao Cave in the northern part of the island dating to before 50,000 years ago. They were initially identified as belonging to modern humans in 2010, but in 2019, after the discovery of more specimens, they were placed into a new species based on the presence of a wide range of traits similar to modern humans as well as to Australopithecus and early Homo.
Since the remains are so fragmentary, it is difficult to make accurate estimates of actual size for this species, but they may have been within the range of modern day Philippine Negritos, who average 151 cm (4 ft 11 in) in height for males and 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females.2
LB1's height is estimated to have been 1.06 m (3 ft 6 in). The height of a second skeleton, LB8, has been estimated at 1.09 m (3 ft 7 in) based on tibial length.8 These estimates are outside the range of normal modern human height and considerably shorter than the average adult height of even the smallest modern humans, such as the Mbenga and Mbuti at 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in),[64] Twa, Semang at 1.37 m (4 ft 6 in) for adult women of the Malay Peninsula,[65] or the Andamanese at also 1.37 m (4 ft 6 in) for adult women.[66] LB1's body mass is estimated to have been 25 kg (55 lb). LB1 and LB8 are also somewhat smaller than the australopithecines, such as Lucy, from three million years ago, not previously thought to have expanded beyond Africa. Thus, LB1 and LB8 may be the shortest and smallest members of the extended human group discovered thus far.[67]
In addition to a small body size, H. floresiensis had a remarkably small brain size. LB1's brain is estimated to have had a volume of 380 cm3 (23 cu in), placing it at the range of chimpanzees or the extinct australopithecines.[3][42] LB1's brain size is half that of its presumed immediate ancestor, H. erectus (980 cm3 (60 cu in)).[42] The brain-to-body mass ratio of LB1 lies between that of H. erectus and the great apes.[47] Such a reduction is likely due to insular dwarfism, and a 2009 study found that the reduction in brain size of extinct pygmy hippopotamuses in Madagascar compared with their living relatives is proportionally greater than the reduction in body size, and similar to the reduction in brain size of H. floresiensis compared with H. erectus.[70]
Smaller size does not appear to have affected mental faculties, as Brodmann area 10 on the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with cognition, is about the same size as that of modern humans.[42] H. floresiensis is also associated with evidence for advanced behaviours, such as the use of fire, butchering, and stone tool manufacturing.4
And it seems that the example of Homo floresiensis proves that in a science fiction story humanoid people can get at least as small as 25 kilograms or 55 pounds while retaining approximately human intelligence.
So you need to find examples of the percentages of their weights which various flying creatures are known to be capable of carrying for various distances and times to see how plausible quetzel riding can be.
As for how your people could tame and train quetzels, perhaps the quetzel riders are not the quetzel tamers. Maybe there is a giant species in your world, which is almost as large compared to quetzels as humans are compared to the largest present day birds. Humans tame and train many species of raptor birds for falconry, ranging in size up to the golden eagles used by Mongolians.
So maybe the giants tame and train quetzels for falconry and carrier pidgeon duties, etc., and then sometimes train them to carry smaller people, perhaps adult humans, adult human pigmies, human children, or adult "haflings" the size of Homo floresiensis.
And since nobody knows much about the intelligence of quetzels, you might want to make your modified versions seems as intelligent and trainable as possible, perhaps being herd animals with complex social lives and thus comparatively easy to train to consider giants and humans part of their flock.
Equines can carry about 30% of their bodyweight, as a rule-of-thumb. Flyboys could, I imagine, carry far less, maybe 10%. Quetzalcoatlus weighed about 200kg according to so maybe aim for a 20kg humanoid. That's certainly a feasible size for a humanoid; it's about 28% of the weight of a person or 40% of a jockey.
Quetzalcoatlus was a large and strong animal, and could easily bear a normal sized human. Its back, though it may not be fully fused, seems quite strong. While its body-shape seems ill-suited to being saddled, this could be changed for your version. Perhaps you could give it wider shoulders. I'd speculate that Quetzalcoatlus would be a lot like a horse, just bigger and carnivorous
If you want your Quetzalcoatlus to be flown, then it's a lot more implausible. Firstly, it would be very hard to make a saddle that won't fall off immediately, especially for a flight-worthy Quetzalcoatlus. Furthermore, Quetzalcoatlus was not adapted for flying all the time. This means that either you'd have to make it completely unlike a real Quetzalcoatlus, or impose some heavy limitations on their use in the air. I'm not sure how small the humanoids would have to be, but it'd probably be very small
They are out there. At 3.5 kg and 45 cm tall the Sifaka lemur is a fine start for your little humanoid. It does not take a lot of imagination to have these things walking around, chatting people up. In fact one did exactly that (with some puppetry help) with the Kratt brothers on their Zooboomafoo show. On looking for an image with the lemur and the Kratt's I learned that the lemur from the show lived to be 20 years old!
The average wingspan of Quetzalcoatlus is estimated to be around 36 feet (11 meters), making it one of the largest known flying animals in history. When compared to the average human height of 5.5 feet (1.68 meters), the wingspan of Quetzalcoatlus is approximately 6.5 times larger.
The average weight of Quetzalcoatlus is believed to be around 550 pounds (250 kilograms). In comparison, the average human weight is approximately 137 pounds (62 kilograms). This means that Quetzalcoatlus weighed nearly 4 times as much as the average human.
When considering the size and weight of Quetzalcoatlus compared to humans, it becomes evident that this prehistoric creature was truly massive in size and weight, highlighting the remarkable nature of its existence.
Quetzalcoatlus, a massive pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period, had an average weight of around 200-250 pounds (90-113 kilograms). This weight is comparable to the average weight of an adult human, making it an intriguing subject for comparison.
When compared to the average human weight, Quetzalcoatlus falls within the range of an adult male or female. This comparison highlights the immense size and weight of this prehistoric creature, shedding light on its unique characteristics and the natural world during its existence.
Understanding the weight of Quetzalcoatlus compared to humans provides valuable insight into the scale and magnitude of this remarkable creature, allowing us to appreciate the diversity of life forms that have inhabited our planet.
Quetzalcoatlus, a massive pterosaur, exhibited fascinating behavior and habits that are worth exploring. When compared to human behavior and habits, several interesting similarities and differences emerge.
Quetzalcoatlus, with its enormous wingspan and lightweight build, was well-adapted for soaring through the skies. It is believed to have been a skilled glider, utilizing air currents to cover vast distances in search of food and suitable habitats. Additionally, some researchers suggest that Quetzalcoatlus may have been a scavenger, relying on its keen eyesight to locate carrion from the air.
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