People on Twitter are absolutely losing their minds over a photo of a gigantic prehistoric bird.
The bird in question is the Quetzalcoatlus northropi, and a photo floated around Twitter on Friday showing a model of the massive creature towering over a measly 6-foot man.
https://twitter.com/CosmossUp/status/964111171078025216
Some people were completely terrified.
https://twitter.com/zacgormania/status/964534929408307200
there goes tonight's sleep… https://t.co/u73xnxtX9k
— SMCarter (@sheldoncarter) February 16, 2018
Let’s not do this
— moved to @mothmymando (@galacticdrusus) February 16, 2018
no offense but someone made a mistake https://t.co/WiEamDqUiK
— dog professional (@nicebigdog) February 16, 2018
Others had questions.
WHY IS IT… SHAPED LIKE THAT.
— Ehren (@megalonyx_) February 16, 2018
Does anyone have a good recipe for this? How long in the oven?
— Martin Fitzgerald (@FitzySeagull) February 16, 2018
And still others marveled at the sheer size of the Q. northropi, which is the largest known flying creature of all time, according to the National Park Service. Its wingspan is estimated to have been between 36 and 39 feet.
https://twitter.com/rosiesrambles/status/964413592421285888
HOLY SHIT https://t.co/2XAy5Riijb
— Penny Weber ☄️ (@_Weaver) February 16, 2018
thats a big bird https://t.co/lnKHCZXtKJ
— atrophy wife 🎀 (@zuza_real) February 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/FrightShark/status/964551195498110976
https://twitter.com/scottbix/status/964585383479664640
the wrong animals got extincted https://t.co/dfavcrh5Se
— soft & tender vegetal burger (@party_T_rex) February 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/Ian_Nieves_/status/964555172977528834
Twitter has Blue Rhino Studio out of Minneapolis to thank for the model of the bird, which is headed to a cultural center in Kuwait where it will presumably give nightmares to anyone passing through.
For all the curious archaeology nerds: The fossil of the Q. northropi was discovered by a University of Texas at Austin student at Texas’s Big Bend National Park in the 1970s, according to the National Park Service. The creature is named after the Mexican deity Quetzalcoatl, who was worshipped by Aztecs, and the bird’s anatomy was so weird that researchers are still trying to figure out how the hell it walked and flew.
It’s too bad that we’ll never get to experience the majesty of the bird in real life. But then again…
https://twitter.com/JurassicArse/status/964262866768613376
https://twitter.com/tcalaquilac/status/964396784322662402