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Ancient DNA Helps Solve the Legend of Giant Eagles
nomrniceguy writes "Gigantic eagles swooping from the skies to rescue Frodo and Sam in the Lord of the Rings may not be just the stuff of legends and fairytales, according to research published in the journal PloS Biology. McMaster University anthropologist Michael Bunce has shed new light on the evolution of the extinct Haast's eagle, the giant bird that once ruled the skies over New Zealand. Weighing between 20 and 30 pounds, the enormous Haast's Eagle dominated its environment. It was 30 to 40 per cent heavier than the largest living bird of prey around today, the Harpy Eagle of Central and South America."
How does its wingspan compare to the 10-foot monster that supposedly wanders the skies over Alaska?
[o]_O
Note that the article isn't about them finding out such birds existed, but just that it was a relative of a smaller bird. LOTR reference + Science article = Front Page?
And a sudden explosion of Lord Of The Rings related discoveries? I know the movie was filemed there, but first hobbits and now giant eagles? What's next, we're going to find walking trees?
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
At the top of the food chain was the Haast's Eagle, the only eagle known to have been the top predator in a major terrestrial ecosystem. The eagles hunted moa, the herbivorous, flightless birds of New Zealand, which can weigh more than 400 pounds. Scientists believe the eagle died out within two centuries of human settlement of New Zealand.
Gee, this is news? "Predator Species dies out after mankind hunts prey nearly to extinction". Film at 11.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Not to some people.
Say what you will, but an entire ecosystem with an avian apex predator is damned interesting stuff. Inspiration for a good ScFi novel, to be sure.
Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
to the museum of bad art. Sweet.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
Among the largest flying bird known, this giant eagle had wing span of up to three metres and talons 75mm long.
The study didn't prove that large eagles existed. The remains they had did that. All they did was demonstrate that the large eagles were related to much smaller ones, and speciation probably only occurred a million years ago. Comparative genomics is a useful science, but it's not at the point of telling us what an eagle's adult wingspan is yet.
A google search for "world's largest bird of prey" reveals that there's no concensus on which bird is the largest bird of prey. My money is on the Andean Condor, which, according to The Peregrine Fund, "has a body length of 43 - 51 inches and an 11-foot wingspan. The smaller female weighs 17 1/2 - 24 pounds while the larger male weighs 24 - 33 pounds." According to the same source, "The Harpy Eagle has a body length of 35 - 41 inches, a 6 1/2 -foot wingspan, and weighs 10 - 20 pounds. The female can be as much as twice as heavy as her mate." The argument that the Andean Condor, being a type of vulture, isn't a bird of prey is moot: "Andean Condors may kill some living prey."
"I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
Condor is largest bird of prey! Yes, they're scavengers but they can take down rodents and other birds!
Haast's Eagle (Harpagornis moorei) has been known since 1872, to be precise, although the first fossils were apparently found in 1871. According to Christchurch Library in New Zealand, the most complete skeleton was found in 1990.
It is not altogether clear when it became exinct - or even if it did. The last report of a massive bird in New Zealand was in the 19th century, and persistant claims of a giant eagle of comparable size have been made in Canada. It is not impossible that the bird somehow escaped New Zealand and reached the Americas. In which case, Canada would be a logical place for it to go, being relatively uninhabited and much closer in climate to the South Island than, say, South America is.
Merely for trivia value, the Haast Eagle is believed to have preyed (at least in part) on the Moa (pronounced Moor - there are no extinct mowers in New Zealand that anyone is aware of), was the tallest bird that ever lived, at 13 feet. (The Elephant Bird, in comparison, was about 10-12 feet.)
The Moa's eggs, however, were about the same size as those of the Kiwi - which is only about a couple of feet in height. (The Kiwi lays one egg at a time, mostly because the egg is comparable in size to the bird itself!)
However, nature didn't stop there. Not too long ago, a giant octopus, 40' across, washed ashore there. Also, the only known grounds for baby giant squid (yes, the 40' variety) are also in their waters.
There are also several species of dolphin and whale that are unique to the area.
Not to be outdone, the Kea is the only known flightless parot. It is also the highest altitude parrot, living as it does at the snow line along the Southern Alps.
However, New Zealand didn't just produce some of the most magnificent creatures, it also produced some of the sickest, being home to the so-called "Killer Earthworm", a cannibalistic earthworm that devours just about anything in its path.
It also gets featured in Douglas Adams' "Last Chance To See", in consequence of having one of the rarest - and dumbest - birds in the world, which is apparently incapable of telling the difference between an egg and a potato.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
I, for one, welcome our giane eagle overlords.
New Zealand is about as close to Indonesia as Chicago is to Nicaragua (hint: there's a large island called "Australia" between the two)
Just think what could have happened in the Galapagos archepelago, given a few million years: KILLER CANARIES!!! Swooping down to pick off giant tortoises...
The researchers say, "Such rapid size change is unprecedented in birds and animals".
p eciation.asp
They might not know, but significant changes have been observed over very short periods in fish (I hope these count as "animals") -- http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v23/i2/s
(Yours truly &:-) (be nice to me and maybe I'll make an account)
The argument that the Andean Condor, being a type of vulture, isn't a bird of prey is moot: "Andean Condors may kill some living prey."
Just for grins, what other kind of prey could be killed? While considering this please also explain whether that "may" indicates uncertainty of knowledge stands for "sometimes," as in "sometimes Bald Eagles eat carrion."
------ The only greater hazard to your liberty than n politicians is n+1 politicians.