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Post by Isengard on Aug 15, 2015 7:32:05 GMT 10
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Post by dennisw on Aug 15, 2015 12:56:19 GMT 10
I have seen some very large eagles that don't look extremely large when flying on their own but the proximity of the small plane may change the perspective, much as the moon looks larger when close to the horizon. I would think a mistake in size was more likely than the existence of a giant bird.
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Post by johannes on Aug 25, 2015 19:00:14 GMT 10
I am no ornithologist - to many BANDITS in this bussiness - but AFAIK, there are essentially two theories about teratorn lifestyle and ecology: One school of thought considers them soaring scavengers (and maybe seasonal predators on young calves of megaherbivores www.antediluviansalad.blogspot.de/2015/08/teratorn-blood-festival.html ), the other opinion is that they were the ecological equivalent of Azdharchid pterosaurs or marabou storks; i.e. terrestrial stalkers that hunted rabbit-sized prey and swallowed it in one gulp*. If the first theorie is true, they were heavily depenndent on the mammalian megafauna, and would have hardly survived its extinction. They also would have been highly visible, and almost impossible to miss. If, on the other hand, they were terrestrial stalkers and reluctant flyers, they might have been (or are? ) highly cryptic, and pretty good at hiding from discovery? *note that the two alternatives are not mutually exclusive, marabous are pretty good at both
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Post by dennisw on Aug 25, 2015 22:14:18 GMT 10
I had not considered terrestrial dwellers which would make them harder to find particularly if also predominantly nocturnal and avoiding flying in daylight unless disturbed. Those circumstances make animals extremely difficult to find, I sometimes walk in the forest at night and when I do I find many more animals than I do in daylight.
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Post by Ian Thomas on Aug 26, 2015 20:02:40 GMT 10
Giant man-eating person-eating Jabiru stork stalking in the bushes? Seems ... unlikely?
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Post by Isengard on Aug 27, 2015 4:51:43 GMT 10
If it really is the width of a light aircraft its wings are going to be massive even folded. I just don't buy it, I know the US is huge and has masses of wilderness but this is just to big and too obvious.
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