Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
->''"The Earth is round, the Sun doesn't go around it, the continents move & birds evolved from dinosaurs.'"''
-->-- '''Kevin Padian'''
-->-- '''Kevin Padian'''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 91,92 (click to see context) from:
* ''Argentavis'' and the other Teratorns weren't the only "living airplanes" in the Cenozoic: we have to add the Pelagorns. These were rather albatross-like or pelican-like marine birds, but they were actually more closely related to fowl like chicken & ducks. They had two cool traits: their wingspan reached over 20 ft / 7 m, and their beaks were ''toothed''. Really? This is actually not true: these "teeth" weren't real teeth, but their bill had an ondulating, pseudo-toothed edge, just like one modern bird, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merganser Merganser]], a type of fish-eating, thin-billed marine duck. The only RealLife toothy-birds were those living alongside non-avian dinosaurs, such as ''Archaeopteryx'', ''Hesperornis'', and ''Ichthyornis'', which weren't even closely related to any modern bird groups. Pelagorns were the new feathered version of ''Pteranodon'', almost as large as it but lighter-weighing than ''Argentavis'', and went extinct only 1 million years ago. ''Osteodontornis orri'' ("Orr's bony-toothed bird") is the typical member of the group.
to:
* ''Argentavis'' and the other Teratorns weren't the only "living airplanes" in the Cenozoic: we have to add the Pelagorns. These were rather albatross-like or pelican-like marine birds, but they were actually more closely related to fowl like chicken & ducks. They had two cool traits: their wingspan reached over 20 ft / 7 m, and their beaks were ''toothed''. Really? This is actually not true: these "teeth" weren't real teeth, but their bill had an ondulating, undulating, pseudo-toothed edge, just like one modern bird, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merganser Merganser]], a type of fish-eating, thin-billed marine duck. The only RealLife toothy-birds were those living alongside non-avian dinosaurs, such as ''Archaeopteryx'', ''Hesperornis'', and ''Ichthyornis'', which weren't even closely related to any modern bird groups. Pelagorns were the new feathered version of ''Pteranodon'', almost as large as it but lighter-weighing than ''Argentavis'', and went extinct only 1 million years ago. ''Osteodontornis orri'' ("Orr's bony-toothed bird") is the typical member of the group.
Changed line(s) 109,110 (click to see context) from:
* Among Cenozoic birds there were also critters that resembled modern flamingos (family Phoenicopterids). One of them was ''Palaelodus'', a relative of modern flamingos that shared with them the same body shape (extremely long legs and neck) but with a more generic bill. If it was a specialist filter-feeding wading bird like modern flamingos or a generalist-feeding swimmer like a swan is uncertain. Anyway, the filter-feeding behavior was indipendently developed by other birds other than the flamingos: among them even modern ducks can filter-feed alternatively. Some pterosaurs were also filter-feeders, like ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Pterodaustro]]'', or maybe even some crocodilians like ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Stomatosuchus]]''.
to:
* Among Cenozoic birds there were also critters that resembled modern flamingos (family Phoenicopterids). One of them was ''Palaelodus'', a relative of modern flamingos that shared with them the same body shape (extremely long legs and neck) but with a more generic bill. If it was a specialist filter-feeding wading bird like modern flamingos or a generalist-feeding swimmer like a swan is uncertain. Anyway, the filter-feeding behavior was indipendently independently developed by other birds other than the flamingos: among them even modern ducks can filter-feed alternatively. Some pterosaurs were also filter-feeders, like ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Pterodaustro]]'', or maybe even some crocodilians like ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Stomatosuchus]]''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 67,68 (click to see context) from:
* Among flying birds from the Age of Mammals, perhaps the most commonly depicted ([[RuleOfCool and most striking]]) are the Teratornithids or "teratorns", which were were very vulture-like animals. The namesake ''Teratornis'' ("monster bird") is one of the most abundant birds in fossil record, and has been found in large numbers in the famous Californian tar-pits in which mammalian [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs sabretooths, giant wolves, mastodons and ground sloths]] have also been found. Arguably, they went to feed on the carcasses of these mammals, and remained stuck in tar just the same. The ''Teratornis'' was slightly bigger and heavier than the biggest flying birds today (albatrosses, condors, pelicans, marabous, swans, bustards), and went extinct only few thousands years ago, after the last Phorusrhacids such as ''Titanis walleri''. It was a close relative of the huge but earlier ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Argentavis magnificens]]''.
to:
* Among flying birds from the Age of Mammals, perhaps the most commonly depicted ([[RuleOfCool and most striking]]) are the Teratornithids or "teratorns", which were were very vulture-like animals. The namesake ''Teratornis'' ("monster bird") is one of the most abundant birds in fossil record, and has been found in large numbers in the famous Californian tar-pits in which mammalian [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs sabretooths, giant wolves, mastodons and ground sloths]] have also been found. Arguably, they went to feed on the carcasses of these mammals, and remained stuck in tar just the same. The ''Teratornis'' was slightly bigger and heavier than the biggest flying birds today (albatrosses, condors, pelicans, marabous, swans, bustards), and went extinct only few thousands thousand years ago, after the last Phorusrhacids such as ''Titanis walleri''. It was a close relative of the huge but earlier ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Argentavis magnificens]]''.
