• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 618 4351
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Ancient 60,000-Year-Old Eagle With 3-Meter Wingspan Could Probably Have Given Frodo A Lift

March 21, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

More than 60,000 years ago, giant eagles were flying around Australia with a wingspan of nearly 3 meters (9.8 feet) across. They are thought to be the largest birds of prey ever to live on the continent and possibly the largest continental eagles in the world, according to new research. 

This giant raptor from the Pleistocene era has been described from new and existing fossils found in 1956, 1969, and 2021. It was given the name Gaff’s powerful eagle (Dynatoaetus gaffae) after extensive research of Mairs Cave in South Australia. 

Advertisement

Initially in 1956 and 1969, only a sternum, distal humerus, and two ungual phalanges were found. However in 2021, a further 28 bones from the individual were discovered, though most of them were incomplete. Inside the cave the team managed to find a fragment of distal humerus that was able to be reattached to the bone found over 50 years before in 1969. 

Cave entrance with bright sunlight and person hangs in a harness descending into the cave.

Flinders University fossil hunters descend the 17-meter (56-foot) drop at the entrance to Mairs Cave in the Flinders Ranges. Image credit: Aaron Camens (Flinders University)

“After half a century, and several delays caused by the pandemic, the expedition with volunteers from the University’s Speleological Society found a further 28 bones scattered about deep among the boulders at the site indicated by one of these museum relics,” said Flinders University palaeontology researcher Dr Ellen Mather in a statement.

These further fossils allowed other bones previously found in three different locations to be recognized as members of the same species. The hind limbs of the bird suggest that the species was a predator, and may have been Australia’s largest known bird of prey. The researchers reckon it could have lifted a small kangaroo or koala with its powerful talons. 

Given the size of a small kangaroo is around 50-70 kilograms (110-154 pounds) this means these ancient eagles – just like the Great Eagles of Tolkien’s Middle-earth – could have lifted Frodo and his hobbit pals with ease, as they are only around 1.2 meters (4 feet) tall and theoretically would have weighed significantly less than that.

Advertisement

The team suggest that the Gaff’s power eagle coexisted in time with the still extant wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) and would have limited the distribution of that species. The team think the ancient eagle would have had a wide distribution, from the dry areas of inland Australia to the more temperate coastal regions, and was likely the top avian predator during this timeframe.

Comparison between Wedge Tailed Eagle and Gaff's Powerful Eagle, showing leg bones and silhouettes.

Comparison of the tarsometatarsus (footbone) of Dynatoaetus gaffae and wedge-tailed eagle, with estimated silhouettes of the living animals above. Image credit: Ellen Mather (Flinders University)

“Given that the Australian birds of prey used to be more diverse, it could mean that the Wedge-tailed Eagle in the past was more limited in where it lived and what it ate,” continued Dr Mather. “Otherwise, it would have been directly competing against the giant Dynatoaetus for those resources.” 

Researchers suggest that the species became extinct in the megafaunal mass extinction around 50,000 years ago along with a scavenging vulture species Cryptogyps lacertosus.

The study is published in the Journal of Ornithology.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. The only one way to tackle ransomware: Zero Trust
  2. China’s factories, retailers stumble on COVID-19 disruptions
  3. What to watch for in Japan’s leadership vote Wednesday
  4. Futurist Predicts Humans Will Achieve Immortality By 2030

Source Link: Ancient 60,000-Year-Old Eagle With 3-Meter Wingspan Could Probably Have Given Frodo A Lift

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Should We All Be Meditating? Find Out In Issue 11 Of CURIOUS – Out Now
  • In 1872 The Mary Celeste Was Found Completely Abandoned. What Happened To Its Crew?
  • TWIS: An “Alien Message” From Mars Has Been Received, Evidence Of Non-Binary People In Prehistoric Europe Unearthed, And Much More This Week
  • At 9,400 Years Old, Çatalhöyük Is One Of The Oldest Buildings Still Standing
  • Legendary Sword Of Tipu Sultan Becomes Most Expensive Sword In History
  • Is It Normal To Talk To Yourself?
  • Bizarre Insect Filmed In The Amazon Is Strangely Beautiful
  • World’s Oldest Homo Sapiens Footprint Identified On South Africa’s Cape South Coast
  • Historic Great Plains Bison Slaughter Had Surprising Lasting Consequences For Native Americans
  • Better Sleep For Teens Can Be Achieved With Different Social Media Use
  • This Weekend A Nearby Supernova Is Visible Even With A Small Telescope
  • What’s The Oldest Surviving City In The World?
  • Jade Burial Suits – Why The Ancient Chinese Lay Their Dead To Rest In Such Opulence
  • What Happens If You Touch Mercury?
  • Early Universe Symmetry Violations Could Explain Why Matter Exceeds Anti-Matter Today
  • Over 5,000 Deep Sea Creatures Found In Area At Risk Of Rare Metal Mining
  • Composition Of Roman Perfume Identified For First Time, And It Smelled Like Patchouli
  • Unit 731: New “Horror Bunker” From Japan’s WW2 Human Experimentation Camp Discovered
  • How Do You Reheat Rice? Carefully, Unless You Want Fried Rice Syndrome
  • We Just Took A Step Closer To Building The First Nuclear Clocks
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 618 4351
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2023 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version