An extinct bird the size of a Cessna airplane and weighing as much as an average human was one of the largest birds to have ever flown the friendly skies.
Scientists have wondered how the bird, called Argentavis magnificens, could balloon to such heft (more than 150 pounds, or 70 kg) and still replace its feathers during a molt. Now, new research reveals the bird, which lived 6 million years ago in the Miocene epoch, likely molted all of its feathers at once during a long fast.
The finding derives from a larger study that figures out a strange limiting factor to maximum body size in birds — the amount of time it takes to replace flight feathers.
Lees meer: LiveScience
Scientists have wondered how the bird, called Argentavis magnificens, could balloon to such heft (more than 150 pounds, or 70 kg) and still replace its feathers during a molt. Now, new research reveals the bird, which lived 6 million years ago in the Miocene epoch, likely molted all of its feathers at once during a long fast.
The finding derives from a larger study that figures out a strange limiting factor to maximum body size in birds — the amount of time it takes to replace flight feathers.
Lees meer: LiveScience
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