Welcome to Florida . . . 3 million years ago. One day this land will be dominated by gentle breezes, palm trees, and grandparents. But today, it is ruled by a terrifying beast.
This monster stands taller than a basketball hoop. It has an enormous razor-sharp beak that can slice through flesh and crack bones. If it lays eyes on you, there’s little point in running away. Long, strong legs make it one of the fastest animals on land. Its speed and strength are rivaled only by its appetite for fresh meat. This creature is Titanis walleri, the largest of all terror birds.
Terror birds (family Phorusrhachidae) were gigantic, flightless birds that rose to the top of the food chain after the Cretaceous Period came to a close. For more than 60 million years, terror birds ruled the roost as a top predator. Then they disappeared.
The rise and fall of the mighty terror birds is a story about a change. It’s a story about evolution’s winners and losers. And the terror birds were big, big winners . . . until they weren’t.
A Changing Planet
Like most of today’s plants and animals, the story of the terror birds begins in the Cretaceous Period. Life on Earth changed a lot during the Cretaceous. The huge land mass of Pangaea split apart. Over millions of years, the Earth’s plates moved inch by inch through the process of continental drift. Eventually the continents of Asia and North America and Africa formed. However, land bridges still connected these giant landmasses, allowing plants and animals to move back and forth between the new continents.
This story is from the March 2020 edition of Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2020 edition of Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
THE PROBLEM WITH PALM OIL
Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food.
SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.
WHO'S YOUR COUSIN?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
