Giant Dracula: scientists have shown the world's largest flying creature 3.5 meters long (photo)

For more than 4.5 billion years, the Earth has been home to countless living organisms. Many of them have long since disappeared, and our information about them is based only on fossils.

Others continue to live and evolve as before, according to IFLScience. Although everyone knows that the largest animal in the modern world is the blue whale, the question remains about the largest flying creatures.

Scientists believe that the largest flying creature in the history of the planet was probably 3.5 meters high and was unofficially named "Dracula". It may sound incredible, but researchers are confident that such a creature did exist.

This is a pterosaur that was 3.5 meters tall and had a wingspan that exceeded the length of a large bus. The researchers called this giant "Dracula" because its fossilized remains were found in Transylvania, Romania. Although the exact species of the pterosaur remains unknown, scientists believe it belonged to the Azhdarchidae family, which are pterosaurs that lived in the late Cretaceous period and are known for their impressive size.

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The gigantic proportions of Dracula have prompted scientists to wonder if it could fly, which would make it the largest flying creature in history. Due to the fragmentary nature of the remains, it was difficult to answer unequivocally, but recent research suggests that even the largest pterosaurs probably had the ability to fly.

Equally important is the question of how Dracula and other similar pterosaurs reached such impressive sizes. A recent study conducted by a team of scientists from the University of Leicester aimed to examine the evolution of pterosaurs by analyzing the fossilized limbs of these ancient creatures.

The researchers also discovered a significant change in pterosaur anatomy that occurred in the Middle Jurassic period. This change was that their arms and legs began to resemble the anatomy of modern land animals. According to one of the authors of the paper, Dr. David Unwin, early pterosaurs had their hind limbs connected to a flight membrane, which greatly impeded their ability to walk.

The findings indicate that later pterosaurs had already split their flight membrane along the midline, allowing their hind limbs to move independently of each other. This was an important evolutionary step that, together with changes in the structure of the arms and legs, greatly improved the ability of these creatures to move on the ground.

Dr. Anwin and his colleagues believe that it was this evolutionary breakthrough that allowed pterosaurs to grow to much larger sizes. Freed from the limitations that were associated with climbing, these late pterosaurs grew to enormous proportions, and some of them became true giants of the Mesozoic era.

According to the team, the findings demonstrate how overcoming certain biological limitations can lead to new discoveries and great evolutionary achievements.

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