Home » And now for something completely different, I bring you: Pelagornis

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And now for something completely different, I bring you: <i>Pelagornis</i> — 7 Comments

  1. It was able to fly because there was too much carbon dioxide in the air way back then.

    The increased density made it possible for this critter to glide.

    It went extinct when carbon dioxide levels collapsed due to global vegetation and limestone bed formation.

    What a pity.

    &&&

    More to the point, how could it eat?

    It would have to be a fish eating surface skimmer.

    Dolphins may have done it in.

  2. I suppose it’s fitting that the bones were found near an airport. The thing was almost as big as a small plane.

  3. Or, contra Blert, there was a greater proportion of oxygen in the air — which could provide greater muscular activity permitting the beast to do what no bird of that size could with oxygen available in our day.

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