Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Terror birds ate meat and came from South America

The February issue of the journal Geology reveals a new study in which scientists say that a 7-foot-tall carnivorous bird came to North America from South America. The terror bird (Titanus walleri) weighed 330 pounds and could bite dog-sized prey.

Fossils found in Texas and Florida were 2 million years old, according to a dating techique that uses rare-earth elements rather than carbon. More details here.

Lookit the size of that beak!


Photo courtesy of Eric Zamora/Florida Museum of Natural History

3 Comments:

Blogger Susan Gets Native said...

Raptors rule!
(And so do their predecessors)

January 23, 2007 6:51 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

that little boy with the dog should try kicking that bird...

;)

January 24, 2007 5:44 PM  
Blogger Amy said...

LOL! I agree with both of you.

January 24, 2007 5:57 PM  

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