• This forum is specifically for the discussion of factual science and technology. When the topic moves to speculation, then it needs to also move to the parent forum, Science Fiction and Fantasy (SF/F).

    If the topic of a discussion becomes political, even remotely so, then it immediately does no longer belong here. Failure to comply with these simple and reasonable guidelines will result in one of the following.
    1. the thread will be moved to the appropriate forum
    2. the thread will be closed to further posts.
    3. the thread will remain, but the posts that deviate from the topic will be relocated or deleted.
    Thank you for understanding.​

Paleontology: "Squawkzilla"

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
10,643
Reaction score
14,867
Location
Massachusetts
I really don't care if the name "Squawkzilla" was pure click-bait. I bit on it, hard.

Scientists Discover Prehistoric Giant 'Squawkzilla' Parrot, As Big As Small Child

NPR said:
Scientists are adding a new creature to a list of giant, prehistoric animals that were previously unknown: The Heracles inexpectus, a supersize parrot, estimated to have been as tall as a small human child, was discovered by Australian researchers in New Zealand, according to a study published in Biology Letters.

Bones of the bird, somewhere between 16 and 19 million years old, were discovered in a now extinct lake in St. Bathans in 2008. But the fossilized tibiotarsi, essentially the bird's drumsticks, sat on a shelf for nearly a decade before a graduate student took a closer look. She realized the bones had been misidentified as an enormous, possibly human-eating eagle — which wouldn't have been groundbreaking in the ornithological world, Trevor Worthy, the study's lead researcher, told NPR.

Instead, Worthy, who is a paleontologist at Flinders University, figured out the leg bones are evidence of the largest parrot known to science — now nicknamed "Squawkzilla."

"The realization that these were parrots was astonishing, because nowhere has such a large parrot been found before," Worthy said. Prior to his discovery, New Zealand's kakapo was believed to be the largest.

...
 

starrystorm

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 9, 2018
Messages
2,987
Reaction score
605
Age
24
Yes! I've been all over this. It's just so fascinating how big it was. I just love to imagine what it would be like if the bird was still around. Haven't seen this article yet though. Thanks!
 

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
10,643
Reaction score
14,867
Location
Massachusetts
Polly will take that cracker, and the hand attached to it, and anything else it darned well pleases.
 

MaeZe

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 6, 2016
Messages
12,775
Reaction score
6,483
Location
Ralph's side of the island.
I was excited until I read:
The research team concluded the flightless parrot weighed 15 pounds and stood about 3 feet tall.
My little dog weighs 15 pounds.

Oh well, it's still really cool. :D

And I would have clicked on it too.
 

Alessandra Kelley

Sophipygian
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 27, 2011
Messages
16,881
Reaction score
5,197
Location
Near the gargoyles
Website
www.alessandrakelley.com
I was excited until I read:My little dog weighs 15 pounds.

Oh well, it's still really cool. :D

And I would have clicked on it too.

Remember, birds have hollow bones so a fifteen pound bird is way bigger than a fifteen pound dog.

This one would have been the size of a child.
 

Albedo

Alex
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
7,363
Reaction score
2,924
Location
A dimension of pure BEES
Remember, birds have hollow bones so a fifteen pound bird is way bigger than a fifteen pound dog.

This one would have been the size of a child.
Also, birds are ornery. If a fifteen pound swan wants to beat up someone ten times its weight,
it will. Add in a parrot's devious, malevolent intelligence, and you've got something truly frightening. Keas like to steal wiper blades. This parrot would jack your hubcaps, eat your tires, and leave you unconscious and bleeding in the snow.
 

frimble3

Heckuva good sport
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 7, 2006
Messages
11,574
Reaction score
6,396
Location
west coast, canada
Polly will take that cracker, and the hand attached to it, and anything else it darned well pleases.
That's what I was thinking. The article said that the bird was tall enough to 'pick the lint out of your belly-button'. Yeah, on it's way through your belly to the spine.
I imagine eagles took one look at the thing and flapped quietly away, grateful that it couldn't fly after them.
 

MaeZe

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 6, 2016
Messages
12,775
Reaction score
6,483
Location
Ralph's side of the island.
Remember, birds have hollow bones so a fifteen pound bird is way bigger than a fifteen pound dog.

This one would have been the size of a child.
No doubt the bird is big, and probably very beautiful. But I picture people pushing them over. :ROFL:

Sorry, it just struck me as funny.

For comparison, adult ostriches can weigh more than 300 pounds.

Perhaps the 15 pound weight is a typo.
 
Last edited:

frimble3

Heckuva good sport
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 7, 2006
Messages
11,574
Reaction score
6,396
Location
west coast, canada
A bald eagle is 9-12 pounds. With great big talons and an impressive beak.

These guys are parrot-like, so I am assuming flocks. The humans knock the first bird over, and while they are falling about laughing, the rest of the flock sneaks up and attacks. Doubtless the bird that volunteered to play the victim gets a nip of some particularly tasty bit for it's efforts.
 

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
23,083
Reaction score
10,780
Location
Where faults collide
Website
doggedlywriting.blogspot.com
I ran across this article a few days ago but never got around to sharing it! I have pretty hefty respect for the relatively small parrots I've known in my life. They have powerful beaks and wickedly uncertain tempers.

Hobbit-sized parrots need to figure in a fantasy novel somewhere.

I was excited until I read:My little dog weighs 15 pounds.

But 15 pounds is large for a bird. They're not as densely constructed as mammals. That's what's kind of hard to imagine, because a 15- dog is usually a foot high at the shoulder, and maybe half again as long in the body. This bird was tall enough to pick the lint out of your belly button.
 
Last edited:

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
10,643
Reaction score
14,867
Location
Massachusetts
Or pick the belly out of your belly button. :ROFL: