Fossil reveals terror bird’s power
Beak strong enough for ancient South American predator to hatchet its prey
With a swift hatchet of its beak, the terror bird Llallawavis scagliai could have whomped its prey, a new fossil find confirms.
Terror birds were one of South America’s top predators from about 50 million to roughly 1.8 million years ago. Researchers from Argentina have discovered a nearly complete skeleton of a new species of terror bird in a cliff face close to Chapadmalal. The researchers call the bird Llallawavis scagliai —Scaglia’s magnificent bird — in honor of naturalist Galileo Juan Scaglia, the grandfather of one of the researchers. They describe the fossil in the March Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.