A Killing Beak

Due to mentioning the giant bird Andalgalornis yesterday and not knowing a whole lot about that particular genus, I think it is very important that we discuss this South American terror bird in this week's posts. Andalgalornis steulleti is actually a lesser known genus of terror bird, in comparison to the other large bird fossils that have been recovered from the Pliocene rocks of the continent. This terror bird may not have been as terrible as its nearest relations, and may not even been a very fearsome predator compared to the other apex predators of the time.

©John Conway