Big Bend Pterodactyls and Waylon County

When  I was in second grade, my mother bought my brother and me a set of World Book encyclopedias. From the day the encyclopedias arrived, if I didn't know something, I immediately consulted those glorious brown and black tomes. If a person on television discussed a topic I didn't know, I looked it up. If I was reading a book and there was a reference I did not understand, I looked it up. The habit continues to this day, and as a writer I like to sprinkle amusing encyclopedic facts throughout my work hoping that readers will look up the topics and find them as amusing and fascinating as I do.

For example, in Waylon County I make a passing reference to the Big Bend pterodactyl. A quick google search reveals that the creature was named Quetzalcoatlus after the Aztec god of knowledge and learning. The search also reveals that some scientists believe that Quetzalcoatlus,whose wingspan was that of an F-16, could not actually fly. They say that it jumped from tall hills using all fours and then glided around. What I like about this story is that no one knows for sure what this winged dinosaur could really do. Even though the hypothesis is based on a computer-generated model, like the myth of Quetzalcoatl, it is, at its heart, still a story. 

Here is a link to a news article about the Big Bend pterodactyl.     

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49746642/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/pterodactyl-was-so-big-it-couldnt-fly-scientist-claims/#.Wf9IxdCnHIU

And if you do not yet have a copy of Waylon County, you can find one at:

https://www.amazon.com/Waylon-County-Stories-Heath-Dollar/dp/0998066141/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509907323&sr=8-1&keywords=heath+dollar