Giant Terror Birds Used Stabbing Beaks to Kill Prey | Wired Science. When South America was still an isolated continent, terror birds were the creatures you didn’t want to mess with. Flightless, standing up to seven feet tall, and with giant, stabbing beaks, these birds killed their prey with fierce, axe-like motions. Now scientists have used CT scans and computer modeling to reconstruct the feeding behavior and interior skull anatomy of one of 18 known species of terror bird, Andalgalornis steulleti, which lived in northwest Argentina until about six million years ago.
A. steulleti was a mid-sized terror bird, standing 4.5 feet tall and weighing about 90 pounds. “CT scanning extinct animals is exciting because you never really know what you’ll find inside,” said paleontologist Lawrence Witmer of Ohio University, co-author of the study published in PLoS ONE August 18. “But you don’t need a CT scan to tell that this was one huge, bad-ass bird.”
The scan also revealed a hollow beak, which was a surprise to the scientists. See Also: 6 Terrifying Ways Crows Are Way Smarter Than You Think. Mankind has a long and checkered past with crows and ravens: They have been feared as symbols of death, because they're all black and scary, revered as creators of the world because, well, it was either them or the seagulls, and worshiped as trickster gods, because of their baffling intelligence. Intelligent enough, in fact, for us to start worrying ... #6. They Can Remember Your Face Next time you see a group of crows, look closely. Try to remember which one is which, and see if you can tell the difference between them the next time you pass. Odds are good that you can't; they're crows, which makes them all big black birds. OK, so the scientists weren't just playing out horror movie fantasies -- they were testing whether the crows could recognize human faces or not. "Wow.
Pretty soon, every single crow on the campus knew which masks meant trouble, and wanted the guys wearing them dead. Oh, and also none of the scientists were ever seen again. #5. . #4. One. They'll be back any minute now. The Most Terrifying Bird on Earth. Photo via Amazing Australia Queensland, Australia. Philip Mclean, a 16 year-old boy, and his brother, three years his junior, encounter a cassowary. Despite the s Photo: Photo via Amazing Australia Queensland, Australia. Philip Mclean, a 16 year-old boy, and his brother, three years his junior, encounter a cassowary. Despite the size of the brightly coloured flightless bird before them, the Mclean brothers attempt to bludgeon it to death with clubs.
Jekyll and Hyde? Photo: Photo by Ronnie23 Philip Mclean’s death took place in 1926, but attacks on humans by the cassowary – viewed by many as the most dangerous bird alive – are not uncommon. Keep clear of the claw: At 12 cm long, it can do serious damage Photo: Photo by Mrs King The southern cassowary is one of the largest birds on the planet – only its relatives the emu and the ostrich are bigger – the female reaching almost 2 metres tall and weighing 130 pounds. Cassowary comin’ atcha: It is a fast runner, able to reach 50 km/h. Terror Bird Fought Like Muhammad Ali. Analysis of a terror bird's predatory behavior reveals this animal knew how to fight. At least one of these now-extinct, large birds, Andalgalornis, fought like boxer Muhammad Ali. Like Ali, they believe the bird was an agile and fast fighter that employed an "attack-and-retreat" strategy.
At 90 pounds, the ancient terror bird Andalgalornis may not have been comparable to a human heavyweight. However, its beak jabs and fleet-footedness were reminiscent of boxer Muhammad Ali's fighting strategy, according to new research. The study, published in the latest PLoS ONE journal, presents the first detailed look at the predatory style of terror birds, now-extinct flightless birds known for their unusually large, fearsome heads and imposing sizes. CT scans revealed this bird's skull was strong and rigid in the vertical and fore-aft directions, but was relatively weak from side to side. "Now that would be something to see: a saber-toothed marsupial (Thylacosmilus) versus a terror bird! " Largest "Terror Bird" Fossil Found in Argentina | Birds of Eden the largest free flight bird aviary in the world, Plettenberg Bay Activities Garden Route Adventures South Africa.
Terror Bird Study. Terror birds ate meat and came from South America. How the fearsome 'terror bird' dealt with its victims six million years ago. How the fearsome 'terror bird' dealt with its victims six million years ago A fossil skull of the terror bird Andalgalornis, compared with the skull of a modern-day golden eagle and a human skull for scale. Andalgalornis was an extinct, 1.4 metre-tall flightless predatory bird found as 6-million-year-old fossils in northwestern Argentina. How the fearsome 'terror bird' dealt with its victims six million years ago - The Irish Times - Thu, Aug 19, 2010 Scientists have worked out how the wonderfully named ‘terror bird’, which died out some two million years ago, caught and chopped up its prey IT FLOATED like a butterfly and stung like a bee but it was no boxer. Scientists have worked out how the wonderfully named “terror bird” caught and chopped up its prey. This flightless bird, of the Phorusrachid family, ranged across what is now North and South America millions of years ago.
It is likely that humans would have been part of its menu plan had we existed at the time.