Terror on stilts

 

Tales of surviving terror birds. Interesting, but probably not true. I mean, there are tall tales about *very* large snakes and even dragons from 19th century Småland in Sweden. Evidence? None. And nobody has seen them since. Drinking habits have changed, too. Hint hint. So why should I believe these tales are any different? Also, natural explanations are available in some of the "terror bird" cases: the California condor in one case, the marabou stork in another (and a Redditor hoax in a third). 

Verdict: Probably not true. But hey, let´s be careful out there. 

Terror birds

So I just learned that seriemas aren´t really gruiforms, but belong to an order all their own closer on the evolutionary tree to falcons, parrots and passerines. Does that matter? Not really...except that the seriemas are the only surviving cariamiforms. The order was once more diverse and also included, ahem, terror birds...

I never really thought about it, but it *is* funny that terrorbirds are closer on the evolutionary tree to the songbirds in your backyard than they are to cassowaries (the modern birds they superficially resemble). It´s also really, really funny that they have been extinct for quite some time, LOL.