Posted on 11/22/2021 6:47:15 AM PST by simpson96
Picture Antarctica today and what comes to mind? Large ice floes bobbing in the Southern Ocean? Maybe a remote outpost populated with scientists from around the world? Or perhaps colonies of penguins puttering amid vast open tracts of snow?
Fossils from Seymour Island, just off the Antarctic Peninsula, are painting a very different picture of what Antarctica looked like 40 to 50 million years ago – a time when the ecosystem was lusher and more diverse. Fossils of frogs and plants such as ferns and conifers indicate Seymour Island was much warmer and less icy, while fossil remains from marsupials and distant relatives of armadillos and anteaters hint at the previous connections between Antarctica and other continents in the Southern Hemisphere.
There were also birds. Penguins were present then, as they are now, but fossil relatives of ducks, falcons and albatrosses have also been found in Antarctica. My colleagues and I published an article in 2020 revealing new information about the fossil group that would have dwarfed all the other birds on Seymour Island: the pelagornithids, or “bony-toothed” birds.
Giants of the sky
As their name suggests, these ancient birds had sharp, bony spikes protruding from sawlike jaws. Resembling teeth, these spikes would have helped them catch squid or fish. We also studied another remarkable feature of the pelagornithids – their imposing size.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
LOL!.................
“...look at the bones!”
Yes, sorry about that. I need to post slower and more carefully.
That novel was written early in 1931, but not published until 1936. Work on the script for King Kong began in early 1932, but the project had been in development for several years. The Lost World preceded both, having been released in 1925, and was based on the novel published in 1912.
“Giant ‘toothed’ birds flew over Antarctica 40 million to 50 million years ago”
I don’t see any teeth, let alone GIANT teeth.
The photo PROVES they LIE!
It looks more like Louisiana.
Dentures?
When Antarctica is mentioned many of us think of THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS.
I like the Eocene-age fence along the stream bank.
bookmark
NOw that’s scary.
Let’s get down there and strip mine the ice.
Thanks simpson96.
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