Quote:
Originally Posted by Jabronie
I had no idea, pretty cool.
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Yes, isn't it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Incarnadine
Interesting fact bout terrorbirds existing. Now find me Taur dogs!
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The real life counterpart of the Taur Dog would be one of the members of
Amphicyonidae. This family contained a plethora of species.
Here are some suggestions on how they might have looked (although we have our own take on it as usual).
Quote:
Originally Posted by teppy
you guys have heard of moa birds before haven't you? they're related to terror birds but moa's were the biggest of them all. It's crazy when you think about how big an ostrich is... pretty scary to see one of those in person hah
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The Moa family was not related to Phorusrhacids ("Terror Birds"). They are two separate branches of the evolutionary tree (separated already in the superorders Palaeognathae and Neognathae). This means that Moas are related to Ostriches, Kiwis and Emus ("primitive birds"), while Terror Birds are related to the "modern birds/fowls".
And in regards to "biggest"; the Moa might have been the
tallest, however one of the "Elephant Birds" of Madagascar (Aepyornis) weighted almost twice as much as a Moa. That said, the species in the Ostrich family were omnivorous, insectivorous or herbivorous. They had small beaks, small heads, small necks - and although some may have been fast, they were rather ..friendly.
Moa (plus a Haasts Eagle btw) and
Aepyornis.
The Phorusracids and Gastornithiformes (Diatrymas) on the other hand were fast-running apex predators and scavengers, possibly using pack-hunting techniques. They were not as tall as the Ostrich-birds but they weighed almost as much, and they had giant beaks and claws (like
Phorusrhacos,
Brontornis or one of the
Gastornis).
And there's another candidate for the "biggest". It's not clear whether the
Dromornithidae where carnivores, however a
Dromornis stirtoni definitely outweighed all of the above with its 500kg/1100lb.
Last but not least, if you count "bird-like" animals, the
Gigantoraptor is of course even bigger. However it's not always easy to tell the difference between a bird and a dinosaur
