This Flesh-Eating 'Terror Bird' May Have Stood Over 3 Meters Tall [View all]

04 November 2024
ByTessa Koumoundouros



'Terror bird' (Titanis walleri) at Florida Museum of Natural History. (Amancer/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

Though known only from a shinbone fragment, a newly-described flesh-eating terror just might be the largest known member of its feathered kind.

Phorusrhacid 'terror birds' stalked what's now Colombia's Tatacoa Desert around 12 million years ago, among car-sized armadillo relatives, giant sloths, and saber-toothed marsupial cousins.

The recently analyzed fossil suggests this specimen was far larger than its relatives, which have been estimated to range from 1 to 3 meters (3 and 9 feet) in height. It also bears signs of how this fearsome predator likely met its end – in the jaws of an even more terrifying beast.

Evolutionary biologist Federico Degrange from Argentina's Center for Research in Earth Sciences and colleagues found the bird's shinbone was marred with teeth marks of an ancient crocodile relative, Purussaurus, thought to grow up to 9 meters (30 feet) long.



Fearsome crocodile relative, Purussaurus. (Megaraptor-The-Allo/Wikipedia)

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-flesh-eating-terror-bird-may-have-stood-over-3-meters-tall