May 30, 2016

How many breadcrumbs would it take to feed a 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) duck? Measuring over 10 feet (3 meters) tall, the extinct thunder bird is sometimes called the demon duck of doom. This gigantic, flightless bird lived in what is now Australia, dying out 30,000 to 50,000 years ago.

The thunder bird, or “demon duck of doom” Credit: © Anne Musser, Australian Museum

Despite its demonic nickname, the thunder bird probably did not feast on flesh, but was mainly herbivorous (plant-eating). It used its heavy, strong bill to gobble down fruits, seeds, and other plant matter.

Another name for the thunder bird is mihirung, which comes from the Australian aboriginal term mihirung paringmal, meaning giant emu. The bird’s long neck, tiny wings, and massive, powerful legs led people to think that it was a relative of emus and ostriches. However, scientists now believe that it was more closely related to ducks and geese. The thunder bird did not live in the watery habitats favored by modern ducks and geese, however. Instead, it preferred to roam in grasslands and nest in sand dunes.

All but one species of this monstrous bird had died out by the time human beings reached Australia about 50,000 years ago. Some scientists argue that people may have accelerated the extinction of the thunder birds by hunting them or setting fire to their habitats. Climate change also likely played a role.

July 11, 2014

Fossilized bones stored in a museum basement near Charleston, South Carolina, for some 30 years have been identified as those of the largest known flying bird. Pelagornis sandersi, which lived from 25 to 28 million years ago, had a wingspan of from 20 to 24 feet (6.1 to 7.3 meters)–counting feathers. That made it more than twice as large as the royal albatross, the largest living flying bird. Previously, the record holder was Argentavis magnificens, a condorlike bird that lived in Argentina about 6 million years ago.

P. sandersi belonged to a group of giant seabirds called pelagornithids that once lived everywhere except Antarctica. These birds are known for their pseudoteeth–strange toothlike spikes that lined the upper and lower jaws. The teeth were probably used for catching fish and squid found near the surface of the water. The pelagornithids mysteriously became extinct about 3 million years ago. Paleontologist Daniel Ksepka described pelagornithids as “creatures out of a fantasy novel–there is simply nothing like them around today.”

Using a computer simulations, Ksepka determined that P. sandersi was a wonderfully efficient glider that could soar extreme distances across ocean waters. In fact, he believes, the bird spent most of every year aloft, riding air currents rising from the ocean surface. It probably came ashore only to breed. The bird, which could travel at about 39 miles (63 kilometers) per hour, likely owed its flying abilities to its extremely long wings and short body. Weighing from 48.2 to 88.4 pounds (21.9 to 40.1 kilograms), P. sandersi probably raises the limit on how heavy flying birds can get. Too heavy to lift off by flapping, the bird may have gone airborne by running downhill into a headwind or leaping into the wind from a cliff. With its long wings, it probably looked extremely awkward when walking.

Ksepka named the new bird after Albert Sanders, a curator at the Charleston Museum, who supervised the excavation of the fossils. The bones were found in 1983 during the construction of a new terminal at the Charleston Internation Airport. When P. sandersi was alive, what is now Charleston was covered by ocean water. Ksepka noted that it was remarkable that the bird’s fragile bones, especially its skull, survived its burial on the sea floor.

Additional World Book articles:

• Hang gliding
• Prehistoric animal
• Pterosaur
• Pterodactyls—Flying Marvels of the Mesozoic (a Special Report)