![]() ![]() Size and Weight: About five feet tall and 50-75 pounds. ![]() Historical Epoch: Late Eocene (40-35 million years ago).Name: Icadyptes (Greek for "Ica diver") pronounced ICK-ah-DIP-teez also known as the Giant Penguin.Like many birds recently discovered in China, the "type fossil" of Eoconfuciusornis bears evidence of feathers, though the specimen was otherwise "compressed" (the fancy word paleontologists use for "crushed.") As is so often the case, though, Confuciusornis has since been supplanted in the record books by an even earlier toothless ancestor of the Cretaceous period, Eoconfuciusornis, which resembled a scaled-down version of its more famous relative. The 1993 discovery of Confuciusornis, in China, was big news: this was the first identified prehistoric bird with a toothless beak, and thus bore a marked resemblance to modern birds. Distinguishing Characteristics: Small size long legs toothless beak.Size and Weight: Less than one foot long and a few ounces.Historical Period: Early Cretaceous (131 million years ago).Name: Eoconfuciusornis (Greek for "dawn Confuciusornis") pronounced EE-oh-con-FYOO-shuss-OR-niss.(In a new development, researchers have determined-based on an analysis of preserved pigment cells-that the feathers of Confuciusornis were arranged in a mottled pattern of black, brown and white patches, a bit like a tabby cat.) There's no reason primitive flying reptiles couldn't have independently evolved birdlike characteristics such as feathers and beaks-so the Confucius Bird may well have a been a striking "dead end" in avian evolution. However, just because Confuciusornis looked like a modern bird doesn't mean it's the great-great-grandfather (or grandmother) of every pigeon, eagle and owl living today. (This arboreal habit didn't spare it from predation, however recently, paleontologists unearthed the fossil of a much bigger dino-bird, Sinocalliopteryx, harboring the remains of three Confuciusornis specimens in its gut!) Unlike other flying creatures of its era, Confuciusornis had no teeth-which, along with its feathers and curved claws suited for sitting high up in trees, makes it one of the most unmistakably birdlike creatures of the Cretaceous period. One of a series of spectacular Chinese fossil discoveries made over the past 20 or so years, Confuciusornis was a true find: the first identified prehistoric bird with a true beak (a subsequent discovery, of the earlier, similar Eoconfuciusornis, was made a few years later). Distinguishing Characteristics: Beak, primitive feathers, curved foot claws.Size and Weight: About one foot long and less than a pound.Historical Period: Early Cretaceous (130-120 million years ago).Name: Confuciusornis (Greek for "Confucius bird") pronounced con-FEW-shus-OR-nis.What Andalgalornis (and other terror birds) specifically did not do was grasp prey in its jaws and shake it back and forth, which would have placed undue strain on its skeletal structure. It seems that Andalgalornis wielded its large, heavy, pointed beak like a hatchet, repeatedly closing in on prey, inflicting deep wounds with quick stabbing motions, then withdrawing to a safe distance as its unfortunate victim bled to death. However, you can expect to hear more about this once-obscure predator, because a recent study about the hunting habits of terror birds employed Andalgalornis as its poster genus. Distinguishing Characteristics: Long legs massive head with sharp beakĪs "terror birds"-the oversized, flightless apex predators of Miocene and Pliocene South America-go, Andalgalornis isn't quite as well known as Phorusrhacos or Kelenken.Size and Weight: About 4-5 feet tall and 100 pounds.Historical Epoch: Miocene (23-5 million years ago).Name: Andalgalornis (Greek for "Andalgala bird") pronounced AND-al-gah-LORE-niss.
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