A University of Texas geology student discovered the remains of the flying reptile 50 years ago in Big Bend National Park. Today, Quetzalcoatlus’ skeleton resides at the Texas Memorial Museum on the UT-Austin campus. The museum was established in 1936, and Pamela Owen is its associate director. The university recently cut its funding for the museum, which has struggled during the pandemic. Despite the hardship, Owen still finds herself in awe of the fossil. She told Texas Standard it’s the first thing visitors see when they enter the museum’s great hall – “this gigantic skeleton overhead.”
