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Ancient Bird With Largest Wingspan Yet Discovered

Posted by samzenpus on from the we're-going-to-need-more-seed dept.

sciencehabit writes Fossils unearthed at a construction project in South Carolina belong to a bird with the largest wingspan ever known, according to a new study. The animal measured 6.4 meters from wingtip to wingtip, about the length of a 10-passenger limousine and approaching twice the size of the wandering albatross, today's wingspan record-holder. Like modern-day albatrosses, the newly described species would have been a soaring champ.

10 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. additional info by kruach+aum · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's called Pelagornis sandersi, and it lived between 25 and 28 million years ago.

    1. Re:additional info by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      yeah because the climate 25 million years ago wasn't actually WARMER than it is now, with much higher sea levels, who knows what the weather was like... but the global average temperature was higher than it is now, with a lot less arctic ice...

      so IF global warming causes more turbulent weather.... then if the weather is generally hotter than it is currently according to your very skillful diagnosis of the causes of weather patterns, being hotter means more atlantic hurricanes, which means it was doomed from the start...

      I love armchair paleoclimatologists... but I must agree that YES it likely wouldn't be able to survive today, being much cooler, food supplies are very different now, i'm sure it would have a much harder time surviving in a completely different climate than what it was adapted to.

      Let's Throw AC into the ecosystem 25 million years ago and see how well he survives too...

    2. Re:additional info by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Funny

      I love armchair paleoclimatologists...

      I love armchair climatologists.

      I love everyone. Give me a hug.

  2. No wonder it went extinct by TWX · · Score: 5, Funny

    With that kind of size and that slow of flight, it's no wonder it fell to ancient flak guns. Too easy to hit!

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  3. 21 feet by naff89 · · Score: 2

    That's 21 feet, for those of you in the States.

    1. Re:21 feet by Matheus · · Score: 4, Funny

      Unneeded... we are all well versed on the length of a 10-passenger limousine.

  4. the length of a 10-passenger limousine by BlackPignouf · · Score: 2

    The length of a 10-passenger limousine

    Wow, that's like 50 Olympic-size swimming pools per micro-Wales!

    1. Re:the length of a 10-passenger limousine by jrumney · · Score: 2

      Yeah, really. So is that Boston Red Line car length or Boston Blue Line car length. London Underground Circle Line car length perhaps? BART car length?

      Quit being so pedantic. It's obvious that they meant one of these.

    2. Re:the length of a 10-passenger limousine by tragedy · · Score: 2

      That's not really just an idea from xkcd. Modern taxonomists group birds within the clade Dinosauria. Also, birds have tails, even if they're short. The tomia of a number of birds are also very toothlike. A number of dinosaurs, such as T. Rex had all kinds of adaptations to make their skulls lighter relative to their bodies.

    3. Re:the length of a 10-passenger limousine by Sique · · Score: 2

      Right. Crocodiles, Birds, Pterosaurs and Dinosaurs all belong to the Archosauria, of which the crocodiles together with some extinct groups form the Crurotarsi, while the three others are grouped together into the Ornithodira. This group is then split into the Pterosaurs and Dinosaurs, the later include today's Aves (birds).

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*