Terrorbirds

[Adam007]

An interesting thing I just found. The terrorbird in runescape looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's actually based off a real animal. It's extinct now, the 55-million-year-old bird called Diatryma gigantean, but it looked like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

That bird was also referred to as a terrorbird.

 

 

 

I know, nothing extraordinarily special of a post - I just found it interesting.

[biggy08755]

Neat find :o

[whizkid338]

Nice find, seems like lots of Runescape has some relation to history.

[henk333]

Weren't those things the top predator for quite a while in South America? Theory has it that they even hunted as a team, like modern-day lions and wolves. Can't remember what caused them to go extinct though...

[Dalcyte]

interesting, nice find :

[Rebel_Rune_9]

Cool find. 8-)

[Shaddd]

Interesting find. :)

[elmo_killer6]

lol its looks somewhat like a green DoDo (sp.?) bird :-s

[Uula]

Lol... Teror Bird... That sounds cool.

[LordSoultar]

Wow that thing is ugly. :o

[oreocookie987]

That is truely, without a doubt, the most ugliest bird I have ever seen. Nice find though :thumbsup:

[Blaze The Movie Fan]

Nice find, but there is one thing I need to know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From what musseum is this?

[shadow_Fox99]

Well... um, allright?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the picture of the bird though...

[Made0f12une]

Weren't those things the top predator for quite a while in South America? Theory has it that they even hunted as a team, like modern-day lions and wolves. Can't remember what caused them to go extinct though...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was those damn dinosaurs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extremely interesting. How does one come upon such a thing? :-k

[ExcelBlue]

You'd have to remember though, they have no way of telling the colours of an animal. For all you know they could be pink. :)

[Blaze The Movie Fan]

Are gnomes really riding dinosaurs? I didn't know they were riding dinosaurs. :-k

[hellbellz]

Are gnomes really riding dinosaurs? I didn't know they were riding dinosaurs. :-k

Looks like it :)

[cotamatias]

Sweet, I always knew those gnomes were up to something! :anxious:

[leinfo]

Phorusrhacoids, or Terror Birds, were large carnivorous flightless birds that were the dominant predators in South America during the Cenozoic, 62ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ2.5 million years ago. They were roughly 1ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ3 meters (3ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ10 feet) tall. Titanis walleri, one of the largest species, is known from North America, marking one of the comparatively rare examples where animals that evolved in South America managed to spread north after the Isthmus of Panama landbridge formed. The ancestors of T. walleri have not been found; however, it is possible that more North American species await discovery. Only a few bones of T. walleri have been discovered at scattered locations in Florida and at a site along the Texas coast. No complete skeleton exists of North America's only known phorusrhacoid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phorusrhacoids are colloquially known as "terror birds", because their larger species were top-level predators and among the most fearsome carnivores of their habitat. Their wings had evolved to meathook-like structures that could be outstretched like arms and were able to perform a hacking motion which apparently was helpful in bringing down prey. Most of the smaller and some of the larger species were fast runners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Their closest modern-day relatives are the seriemas, which do not, however, belong to the same lineage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A new (2006) specimen from Patagonia represents the largest bird skull found yet; it has not been formally described yet but might belong to a new taxon. [1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sooo in reply to earlier post, yes they were top predators,

 

 

 

also if you look at the pictrue, it looks like one of the alien illustrations in H.G. Wells War Of The Worlds original

[misterxman]

Those didn't evolve directly from dinosaurs. Small dinosaurs evolved into small birds which some birds grew bigger and became that.

[Blaze The Movie Fan]

There must be some coinicidence going on here, because the one in the musseum is brown and these that gnomes ride are green. I smell a coinicidence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If not a coinicidence, Jagex somehow edited the color of these birds. :-k

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off-Topic: I can't wait to see Eragon. \

[tefda]

Now if we find that some pygmy society rode them then Jagex did some REAL research :lol: .

[TheFriendlyBear]

Lol, I actually saw a them on discovery channel (one of those walking with dinosaur things) just a couple of days ago. They ate like sabertooth cats and other large animals. :shock:

[Umega]

Paint them yellow, stick some fluffy wings on them and you've got a Chocobo!! \

[hellbellz]

Paint them yellow, stick some fluffy wings on them and you've got a Chocobo!! \

Chocobo? :-s