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Ancient Europeans lived alongside a half-ton bird nearly 12 feet tall
cnn ^
| June 26, 2019
| Ashley Strickland,
Posted on 06/26/2019 6:08:26 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Inside a Crimean cave was a gigantic ancient mystery just waiting to be uncovered: a bird so large that it weighed nearly as much as an adult polar bear.
Giant birds once roamed Madagascar, New Zealand and Australia. The latest fossil find, an intriguing fossilized femur, was recently found in Taurida Cave on the northern coast of the Black Sea.
It was discovered along with other fossils, including bison bones, that helped researchers date the now-extinct giant bird to between 1.5 million and 2 million years ago.
When the first early human ancestors arrived in Europe, they might have encountered these birds. The researchers think the bird probably reached the Black Sea region by crossing Turkey and the Southern Caucasus.
The large birds could have provided early humans with meat, bones, feathers and eggshells.
This is the first time researchers have found a bird like this in Earth's Northern Hemisphere and the first time the size of the bird, named Pachystruthio dmanisensis, has been identified.
It probably stood 11½ feet tall and couldn't fly -- but this bird was fast. It was similar to elephant birds that went extinct in the 1700s, which were usually hindered by size when it came to speed, but the femur found as part of the fossil was long and slender, making for a better runner.
The femur is similar to that of the modern ostrich, which can reach a top speed of 43 miles per hour.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: archeology; bigbird; birds; crevo; crimea; dmanisensis; europe; godsgravesglyphs; history; missingtransitions; pachystruthio; paleontology; storkzilla; tauridacave
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1
posted on
06/26/2019 6:08:26 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
To: SunkenCiv
I think people should have put saddles on them on ridden.
2
posted on
06/26/2019 6:09:08 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
(The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
To: BenLurkin
Did it taste like chicken?
CC
3
posted on
06/26/2019 6:10:55 PM PDT
by
Celtic Conservative
(My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV)
To: Celtic Conservative
You’d need a really big oven.
4
posted on
06/26/2019 6:14:43 PM PDT
by
Rio
To: BenLurkin
To: Celtic Conservative
6
posted on
06/26/2019 6:20:23 PM PDT
by
Rodm
To: BenLurkin
7
posted on
06/26/2019 6:20:45 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
To: Rio
I was thinking spit roasted over a bonfire.
Mmmm!
CC
8
posted on
06/26/2019 6:20:47 PM PDT
by
Celtic Conservative
(My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV)
To: Rio
...and imagine the size of the slaw bucket.
9
posted on
06/26/2019 6:21:14 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
To: Rodm
10
posted on
06/26/2019 6:21:24 PM PDT
by
Celtic Conservative
(My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV)
11
posted on
06/26/2019 6:25:05 PM PDT
by
dsrtsage
(For Leftists, World History starts every day at breakfast)
To: BenLurkin
"
It probably stood 11½ feet tall and couldn't fly -- but this bird was fast."
It was the roller skates.
To: Rodm
In the dark days before mashed potatoes and gravy....
13
posted on
06/26/2019 6:26:14 PM PDT
by
gundog
( Hail to the Chief, bitches!)
To: Telepathic Intruder
Was it on the no fly list?
To: BenLurkin
It only ate Neanderthals.
15
posted on
06/26/2019 6:28:30 PM PDT
by
Pelham
(Secure Voter ID. Mexico has it, because unlike us they take voting seriously)
To: BenLurkin
16
posted on
06/26/2019 6:30:46 PM PDT
by
real saxophonist
(One side has guns and training. Other side's primary concern is 'gender identity'. Who's gonna win?)
To: BenLurkin
17
posted on
06/26/2019 6:43:21 PM PDT
by
Zhang Fei
(My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
To: BenLurkin
The basis for the legend of the Roc.
To: Zhang Fei
The thought did occur to me.
19
posted on
06/26/2019 7:08:10 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
(The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
To: Celtic Conservative
Of course it tasted like chicken.
20
posted on
06/26/2019 7:14:06 PM PDT
by
Agatsu77
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