AU GRAPHIC PREHISTORIC ANIMALS TERROR BIRD PHORUSRHACOS ILLUSTRATED BY ALESSANDRO POLUZZI Smart Apple Media
WHAT IS A TERROR BIRD2 PHORUSRHACOS MEANS RAG THIEF Phorusrhacos longissimus lived around 20 million to 4 million years ago during the Miocene and Pliocene periods Fossils of its skeleton have been found in South America and North America see page 22 ii It was flightless but I could run at an average speed of 43 miles 69 km per hour it Its huge beak I was hooked at the end just like the ii It had tiny wings beaks of modern birds MCL with a hooked of prey is It used its beak claw that may have My like an ax to gripped or slashed to attack prey by pecking PHORUSRHACOS LONGISSIMUS LONG BEAK AVERAGED 8 2 FEET 2 5 M TALL AND WEIGHED 290 POUNDS 132 KG ii It had long legs MILY that ended in three toed feet with H sharp claws that A could pin down prey This would be phorusrhacos and
TERROR BIRD FACTS horusehacos s neck Was most powerful in a forward and backward pecking motion It would not pick up prey and shake it It would dig in its beak's hooked tip and use its strong neck muscles to rip back Terror birds evolved to be different sizes Mesembriornis was a fast moving predator of the late Pliocene period oday’s large flightless birds error birds first evolved in have small heads and eat seeds South America when it was plants and insects The nearest separate from the rest of the world modern bird to phorusrhacos is the The nearest competitors to terror seriema a long legged stalking birds were leopard sized cats that bird that hunts lizards and snakes haunted the forests Terror birds speed and fearsome beaks made them the top predators in South America for more than 50 million years They lived in a landscape that slowly changed from jungle to grassy savannah What they really looked like is unknown Were they long feathered like emus and rheas or short feathered like
