Gastornis Not Such A Terror After All

[Everything_Dinosaur]

There is a television series called "Inside Nature's Giants", it was shown on Channel 4 in the UK and it has one a BAFTA award.  Basically, a team of anatomists dissect an animal each week. In the hour long documentary, they look at adaptations and essentially carry out an autopsy to understand more about why the animal died and how the body works.  Episodes have featured, elephants, whales, giraffes, giant squid, baboons, crocodiles and they made an episode called "Dinosaur Bird" which featured the Cassowary.  The programmes are extremely well done, Darren Naish (University of Southampton), helped with the Cassowary programme, if I recall correctly and I think even the Lark Quarry footprints got a look in.  Well worth looking up on Youtube or 4onD or such like.

[tyrantqueen]

There is a television series called "Inside Nature's Giants", it was shown on Channel 4 in the UK and it has one a BAFTA award.  Basically, a team of anatomists dissect an animal each week. In the hour long documentary, they look at adaptations and essentially carry out an autopsy to understand more about why the animal died and how the body works.  Episodes have featured, elephants, whales, giraffes, giant squid, baboons, crocodiles and they made an episode called "Dinosaur Bird" which featured the Cassowary.  The programmes are extremely well done, Darren Naish (University of Southampton), helped with the Cassowary programme, if I recall correctly and I think even the Lark Quarry footprints got a look in.  Well worth looking up on Youtube or 4onD or such like.

I've seen some of that series, but I don't like it. It's much too graphic for me

Most reports of people being attacked by herbivorous animals are because they don't leave the animal alone. I think it's most about self defense (defending themselves, their herd or territory)

Btw, there's something about this sitting cassowary that looks very theropod-ish

[CityRaptor]

Well, it is a Theropod. As a Ratite, it is also one of the Birds that resemble non-avian Theropods the most.

As for the Sauropods: It is still hilarious because most people focus on Theropods when talking about deadly Dinosaurs.

[Gwangi]

As for the Sauropods: It is still hilarious because most people focus on Theropods when talking about deadly Dinosaurs.

I'm sure as prey animals once ourselves the true draw of the theropods over other groups has more to do with physically being hunted and eaten as opposed to just being outright killed by something.

[Concavenator]

Emus are pretty docile.  I never heard of one attacking anyone, and there are lots of them on ranches in the US, where I've seen them close-up.

Cassowaries can disembowel a human with that huge thumb claw.  When threatened they attack by leaping forward, claw-first.

Check this photo out and you can get the idea, then look at the moron in the video:

Try to imagine Gastornis,so

There is a television series called "Inside Nature's Giants", it was shown on Channel 4 in the UK and it has one a BAFTA award.  Basically, a team of anatomists dissect an animal each week. In the hour long documentary, they look at adaptations and essentially carry out an autopsy to understand more about why the animal died and how the body works.  Episodes have featured, elephants, whales, giraffes, giant squid, baboons, crocodiles and they made an episode called "Dinosaur Bird" which featured the Cassowary.  The programmes are extremely well done, Darren Naish (University of Southampton), helped with the Cassowary programme, if I recall correctly and I think even the Lark Quarry footprints got a look in.  Well worth looking up on Youtube or 4onD or such like.

I've seen some of that series, but I don't like it. It's much too graphic for me

Most reports of people being attacked by herbivorous animals are because they don't leave the animal alone. I think it's most about self defense (defending themselves, their herd or territory)

Btw, there's something about this sitting cassowary that looks very theropod-ish

That pose reminds me a lot of a lying tyrannosaurid(at least for me)

[Simon]

That pose reminds me a lot of a lying tyrannosaurid(at least for me)

Hmmm....perhaps they hunted by stealth, tricking the Triceratops into thinking they were herbivorous?


Trike:  Who are you?  What do you eat with those teeth?

TRex:  Brontograss.  Seen any around here?

Trike:  Well, lemme think...I think I saw some over ...

*CRUNCH*!!!

Trike:  AAAIIIIIIEEEEE !!!


Think about it - 

[tyrantqueen]

Sorry if this is off topic, but is it true that waterfowl and domestic fowl (i.e chickens) are the closest members of the bird species to dinosaurs? I heard it somewhere

[CityRaptor]

The closest to non-avian Dinosaurs are Ratites and other Palaeognathae Birds. Chicken and Waterfowl are however the most basal of the Neognathae Birds. And Waterfowl are known to have existed alongside Dinosaurs.

[Gwangi]

Sorry if this is off topic, but is it true that waterfowl and domestic fowl (i.e chickens) are the closest members of the bird species to dinosaurs? I heard it somewhere

They aren't any more closely related to dinosaurs than any other group of modern birds but they are among the first modern birds to appear in the fossil record, dating back to the Cretaceous. My understanding is that they're the group most similar in form to the common ancestors of birds and the group of dinosaurs from which they descend but no, not any more related. All bird groups are more closely related to each other than any one of them is to dinosaurs if that makes any sense.

EDIT: Even the Palaeognathae Birds that Cityraptor mentions are still more closely related to Neognathae than to any other dinosaur group.

[CityRaptor]

Well, the Question was which birds are closest to non-avian Dinosaurs. Not which are closer to non-avian Dinosaurs than to other Birds.

[Gwangi]

Well, the Question was which birds are closest to non-avian Dinosaurs. Not which are closer to non-avian Dinosaurs than to other Birds.

Actually I think the question was specific to Galloanserae (fowl) but regardless I'm not sure your statement is accurate. It is my understanding that while Palaeognathae is the most basal group of birds I'm aware of no evidence that they're anymore closely related to dinosaurs than Neognathae is.

[Balaur]

I thought I would revive this thread with a little

http://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk/blog/_archives/2013/09/02/isotope-study-suggests-terror-bird-gastornis-was-a-herbivore.html

I think that I'm leaning more towards the herbivore herd. (moo) I was in the omnivorous camp until now.

Basically, I'm on the herbivorist side.

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Wow, that's surprising

[Concavenator]

Now I think that Gastornis was mainly herbivore,though it also could have hunted insects sometimes

[CityRaptor]

Properly also carrion and an unlucky mammal at times. But normally plants. Still not exactly harmless, but we probably have to say goodbye to this:

Atleast as hunting behaviour. I can still imagine Gastornis using its beak to kill when neccesary.

[Splonkadumpocus]

Big flightless birds from modern times are pretty bad-tempered in general, so even if Gastornis was a plant-eater it still wouldn't have been all that docile.

[Concavenator]

OK,now I think this:
Some birds have a specialised beak,but Gastornis didn't .Like parrots break hard fruits,Gastornis could also break these hard fruits with its beak.
But (If I've not missed anything) he was the biggest animal in his environment.So it could have hunted smaller creatures.But I don't see it hunting horses,as it's popularly thought.
And I don't see Gastornis being a peaceful bird,after all 

[Zhuchengotyrant]

OK,now I think this:
Some birds have a specialised beak,but Gastornis didn't .Like parrots break hard fruits,Gastornis could also break these hard fruits with its beak.
But (If I've not missed anything) he was the biggest animal in his environment.So it could have hunted smaller creatures.But I don't see it hunting horses,as it's popularly thought.
And I don't see Gastornis being a peaceful bird,after all 

That's true, my grandma has a parrot. Parrot beaks are similar to Gastornis beaks, in a way. All I know is that that little parrot loves it when she is fed a small, hard fruit.

[Iguanocolossus]

I thought I would revive this thread with a little

http://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk/blog/_archives/2013/09/02/isotope-study-suggests-terror-bird-gastornis-was-a-herbivore.html

I think that I'm leaning more towards the herbivore herd. (moo) I was in the omnivorous camp until now.

Basically, I'm on the herbivorist side.

I'm taking it with a grain of salt. It's only one study, and needs correlation.  Still, it has brought me over to the omnivore camp. I'm still skeptical of it as a pure herbivore.  Did any of the plants in the area have huge leaves or huge nuts or huge fruits?

And people assuming it as peaceful just makes me laugh.  Go on. Try to pick up a Canada goose with your bare hands.

Still, this new finding has taken me out of the "Strict carnivore" camp. Right now, I'm thinking BEAR!

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Me too!