Terror Birds
Nov. 6th, 2024 04:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
birdfeedingFossil of huge terror bird offers new information about wildlife in South America 12 million years ago
Evolutionary biologists report they have analyzed a fossil of an extinct giant meat-eating bird -- which they say could be the largest known member of its kind -- providing new information about animal life in northern South America millions of years ago.
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The bone, found in the fossil-rich Tatacoa Desert in Colombia, which sits at the northern tip of South America, is believed to be the northernmost evidence of the bird in South America thus far.
The size of the bone also indicates that this terror bird may be the largest known member of the species identified to date, approximately 5%-20% larger than known Phorusrhacids, Cooke says. Previously discovered fossils indicate that terror bird species ranged in size from 3 feet to 9 feet tall.
I love terror birds. I mean, I'm glad they aren't around herenow, but they really are awesome. It's like they missed the memo that they weren't supposed to be big scary dinosaurs anymore.
Evolutionary biologists report they have analyzed a fossil of an extinct giant meat-eating bird -- which they say could be the largest known member of its kind -- providing new information about animal life in northern South America millions of years ago.
[---8<---]
The bone, found in the fossil-rich Tatacoa Desert in Colombia, which sits at the northern tip of South America, is believed to be the northernmost evidence of the bird in South America thus far.
The size of the bone also indicates that this terror bird may be the largest known member of the species identified to date, approximately 5%-20% larger than known Phorusrhacids, Cooke says. Previously discovered fossils indicate that terror bird species ranged in size from 3 feet to 9 feet tall.
I love terror birds. I mean, I'm glad they aren't around herenow, but they really are awesome. It's like they missed the memo that they weren't supposed to be big scary dinosaurs anymore.
