Animals in South America around 6聽million years ago would have been well advised to steer clear of the Andalgalornis steulleti 鈥渢error bird鈥�. The flightless bird brought down its prey by stabbing it with its enormous hooked beak.
Andalgalornis, which lived in the area that is now Argentina, belonged to a group of enormous flightless birds known as terror birds that appeared around 60聽million years ago and stuck around for at least 58聽million years. It was 1.4聽metres tall 鈥� small compared with other terror birds, which could reach 3聽metres 鈥� and resembled a cross between an ostrich and a hawk.
Now, a team at Ohio University in Athens has revealed how the bird would have used this beak to fell prey. For this, they used CT scans to create a 3D model of a fossilised Andalgalornis skull, then used a to simulate the effects of different forces on the skull.
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This revealed that Andalgalornis must have killed with a violent jabbing motion worthy of a sword-wielding gladiator.
Beastly beak
The team found that unlike most birds, Andalgalornis had a well-buttressed and inflexible skull. Vigorous front-to-back pecking would not have harmed it, but the skull could not have withstood side-to-side forces.
鈥淚t could not hold prey in its beak and shake it from side to side like a dog,鈥� says team member .
Witmer suggests that the bird would nimbly step in and deliver targeted blows with its beak. 鈥淭hese animals also had wickedly nasty feet and talons,鈥� says of the University of Missouri in Columbia. The birds could have used these to hold prey animals down and rip into them with their beaks.
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