Hercules in feathers
Height 120 centimeters, weight 7 kilograms - a giant, in a word. Such was the parrot, the remains of which were found in New Zealand. The prehistoric bird, which lived about 19 million years ago, was named "Unexpected Hercules" (Heracles inexpectatus). This is reported by Biology Letters magazine and the Daily Mail newspaper.
Paleontologists - authors of an article in a scientific journal from Flinders University in Adelaide assure: Hercules is a record holder. There were no larger parrots. In appearance they resembled the current macaws, but exceeded them in size. And they were meaner. Hercules ate not only fruits and nuts, but also their smaller feathered cousins. They tore them with powerful beaks.
Parrots are now crushed. Not like before …
The giant, as scientists believe, most likely did not fly - it climbed trees and glided from one to another. But like his modern "colleagues" from among the large flying parrots, Hercules, so similar to them, was most likely also a speaker. And I would surely speak if such an opportunity presented itself. But, if you believe traditional science, then worthy interlocutors in those distant times have not yet appeared. Although, who knows … Suddenly there were. After all, nature for some reason endowed parrots with an amazing ability to imitate human speech tens of millions of years ago.
Previously, the geese were larger
Paleontologists led by Marco Pavia of the University of Turin examined bones found in central Italy. And they came to the conclusion that they belonged to a huge goose that was found here 5-9 million years ago. He was named Garganornis ballmanni.
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The prehistoric goose was heavier than the prehistoric parrot.
According to scientists who published their findings in the Royal Society Open Science journal, the discovered goose was the largest in the duck family - larger than all other prehistoric geese, ducks and even swans. The growth of this Garganornis ballmanni reached one and a half meters. Almost like an ostrich. Weight - 22 kilograms. It is a pity that it died out, otherwise they would have baked such a goose with apples on big holidays.
The giant of the duck family did not fly. The wings were small, although strong. They, according to paleontologists, he fought off enemies.
The weight of today's geese does not exceed 7 kilograms, and their height is half a meter.
People hardly had a chance to taste giant geese.
VLADIMIR LAGOVSKY