The Most Spectacular Photos of 2017

Nearly as tall as a giraffe and with the wingspan of an F-16 fighter, Quetzalcoatlus northropi was one of the largest flying animals of all time. This life-size model, being painted by Jim Burt at Blue Rhino Studio in Minneapolis, is bound for a cultural center in Kuwait.

This photo was originally published in “Why Pterosaurs Were the Weirdest Wonders on Wings,” in November 2017.