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Phorusrhacos
1x4 TerrorBird
Biological information
Time period : Miocene
Lifestyle : Carnivore
In the series
Brought back : 1 individual
Appearances : Saving the Sabretooth
Supercroc

Phorusrhacos (name meaning "Wrinkle bearer") is an extinct genus of large, flightless, predatory bird that lived during the Miocene epoch in South America.

Portrayal in the series[]

Phorusrhacos was a huge, lightly-built bird with a fearsome beak. A recent discovery of a close relative in North America suggests that they also had claws on their wings, which is unusual, although it is not clear how these would have been used. Among the bones found in the stratum of the Santa Cruz Formation (now considered as mainly of mid-Miocene date) was the piece of a mandible which Florentino Ameghino (1887) at first described as that of an edentate mammal. In 1891, it was recognized to be a bird. Remains are known from several localities in the Santa Cruz Province, of Argentina. Phorusrhacos stood around 2.5 meters (8.2) feet tall and weighed approximately 130 kilograms (280 lbs).

In Prehistoric Park[]

1x4 TerrorBirdInPleistocene

The Phorusrhacos in the Pleistocene. (Saving the Sabretooth)

"Saving the Sabretooth"[]

When Nigel Marven traveled back in time to South America, one million years ago in the Pleistocene, he encountered a male Phorusrhacos scavenging a Toxodon carcass. As it began pulling meat from the carcass, a male Smilodon chased him away and began scavenging the carcass itself. Nigel then came up with a plan and quietly took part of the meat the bird dropped, tied it to his jeep and goaded the terror bird into following. Once it began chasing the meat, Nigel lured it through the time portal and into a holding pen, where it stayed until Head Keeper Bob had set up its enclosure.

"Supercroc"[]

After some time, the Phorusrhacos had got into the habit of taking dust baths, some of these were done near the fence and would create a hole under it. One time it got out when Bob was cleaning the Elasmotherium enclousure, forcing Bob to call some staff to lure the bird back with some meat tied to a jeep.

1x6 TerrorBirdHasDustbath

The Phorusrhacos taking a dust bath. (Supercroc)

Later, a panicking titanosaur broke through the Phorusrhachos's enclosure, allowing it to escape again. Eventually, the Phorusrhacos and the other escaped animals were recaptured and taken back to their enclosures, allowing Bob to create a deeper foundation around the terror bird's exhibit so it couldn't escape again.

Errors[]

  • Phorusrhacos existed during the Miocene epoch (23 - 5 mya). Although the Terror Birds as a family group are believed to have survived until at least 100,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch, Phorusrhacos itself had been extinct for several million years at the time of the episodes setting.
  • When Nigel shows a life-sized picture of a Terror Bird, the species depicted in the drawing is identified as Titanis, a species of Terror Bird, which did exist at the time of the episodes setting. It is not known why Titanis was replaced by Phorusrhacos, but one possible explanation is that Titanis walleri fossils have been unearthed in North America. Phorusrhachos longissimus on the other hand, lived exclusively on the South American continent, which is not only the location of the episodes setting but the ancestoral home of the Terror Bird family.
  • Just like in the Walking with Beasts episode "Sabre Tooth", Phorusrhacos is depicted as being easily fended off by the much smaller Smilodon, with both Nigel and the narrator stating that the big cats are displacing the giant bird from its role as the top predator. Since the episodes release, however, the displacement theory has generally been dismissed. Fossil evidence suggests that smaller species of Terror Bird, including the aforementioned Titanis co-existed alongside the Ice Age carnivores for several million years following the Great American Interchange, before finally going extinct. The exact cause of the Terror Bird families ultimate demise is currently still being investigated and questioned.
    • Also, given that Phorusrhacos longissimus dwarfed the two species of sabertooths that existed in South America, Smilodon gracilis and Smilodon populator, it seems unlikely that this large terror bird would have been displaced as the top predator. Although Phorusrhacos probably wouldn't have taken on groups of sabertooths, had it lived long enough to encounter the much smaller felines, Phorusrhacos would have almost certainly fought back against the big cats and probably even hunted them.

Trivia[]

  • The species seen in the series is most likely Phorusrhachos longissimus since it lived in the same place as the one in the show.
  • Phorusrhacos was arguably the easiest animal that Nigel intentionally rescued.

Gallery[]

Terror bird watchesbv Bob PP

Terror bird staring at Bob (Supercroc)

 

References[]


External links[]

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