Birds have evolved over millions of years from cold-blooded, sometimes flightless reptiles to graceful, warm-blooded, feathered creatures. Prehistoric birds were either small or gigantic ferocious predators. Some could fly and others, known as the "terror birds," were flightless. The fossilized bones of these birds have been discovered over the centuries and they reveal pertinent, scientific information on the feeding habits and characteristics of those ancient bird predators.
Terror Bird (Titanis walleri)
The first terror bird fossil, a jaw bone, was originally discovered in the late 1880s in Argentina's Patagonia region by Florentino Ameghino. It was first identified as a mammal due to its large size (almost 2 feet) and not as a bird. It was not until four years later that scientists discovered it was in fact the jaw bone of a giant, predatory bird due to its hollow center and thin walls. Over a hundred years after this discovery, more terror bird fossils were dug up, and over 17 different species were identified that had lived over a 60 million year period. Some reached heights of 7 feet tall.
Kelenken Guillermoi
This bird was the largest of the giant, flightless terror birds ever found, and its fossils were first discovered by Argentinean high school student, Guillermo Aguirrezabala. The bones were identified as that of a giant terror bird, later named Kelenken guillermoi. The bird lived over 15 million years ago and stood well over 7 feet tall, weighing over 400 lbs. The skull was larger than a horse's. Like other terror birds, it had massive jaw and neck muscles and was capable of delivering a fatal, stabbing blow and ripping flesh and bone with its huge beak that may have been used like a pickax to kill prey.
Gigantoraptor Elrianensis
The fossilized dinosaur bones of Gigantoraptor elrianensis were discovered in 2005 in the Erlian Basin of northern China's Inner Mongolian region by paleontologist Xu Xing. This bird-like dinosaur was around 26 feet long and 16 feet tall, weighing over 3,000 lbs. It was about the height of Tyrannosaurus rex but it had a beak and possibly feathers although it was flightless. Gigantoraptor belonged to a group of dinosaurs called oviraptors, normally no larger than a human. It is not yet clear whether this oviraptor was a carnivore or a herbivore since its remains display the characteristics of both. If it is a carnivore, it proves to be the largest predatory bird ancestor discovered so far.
Haast's Eagle
This eagle is the largest, flying bird of prey ever to be recorded. It is now extinct but it was once alleged to rule the skies over New Zealand until around 700 years ago. Scientists from both Oxford, Canterbury and New Zealand Universities have researched Haast's eagle extensively. DNA taken from eagle bones dating back to over 2,000 years ago revealed that the weight of eagles arriving in New Zealand increased by a factor of up to 15 times over the centuries. These eagles developed a wingspan of nearly 10 feet. Prey was plentiful and they had no predators until humans arrived on the island and contributed to the birds' extinction.
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