Ancient Europeans lived alongside a half-ton bird nearly 12 feet tall

cnn ^ | June 26, 2019 | Ashley Strickland,

[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.

[353FMG]

Tasted like chicken.

[Mark17]

Ping

[jerod]

And while they lasted, they were delicious.

[Deplorable American1776]

New at KFC...😊

[TigersEye]

Early humans could have provided the large birds with meat, bones, hair and endless entertainment.

[GingisK]

That would be “Big Bird”.

[V K Lee]

Perfect for any large family Thanksgiving dinner.

[Kartographer]

Buffalo wings the size of Buffalos!!

[Kartographer]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a-5IqZC1_-Q

[Mr. Jeeves]

When the first early human ancestors arrived in Europe, they might have encountered these birds.

And found them delicious. :)

[BenLurkin]

Excellent!

[wgmalabama]

Yammmmm. Giant fried chicken. I like fried legs. One that takes a week to eat would be yummmy.

[Born to Conserve]

They always taught that those big birds could only compete in backwater areas with primitive life on islands or continents with marsupials like Australia and South America. Guess they’ll have to do some rewriting.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin. What will a 12 foot half ton bird do that the IRS won't? Stick its bill in its ass.

[SunkenCiv]

It was similar to elephant birds that went extinct in the 1700s, which were usually hindered by size when it came to speed...

Well, I'm sure I'd not heard of the elephant birds either.

elephant birds image search:

Google

[blueplum]

did the Pachy eat cows?

[COBOL2Java]

[COBOL2Java]

It doubled as a swimming pool

[Red Badger]

[Roman_War_Criminal]

Not surprised. Why won't they publish the human tracks with Dino tracks? What do they have to hide?