A team of paleontologists from the National Center for Evolutionary Synthesis in Durham in North Carolina (USA) has managed to identify the largest bird that has ever existed on the face of the Earth , according to the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The work is based on the study of fossil remains found in 1983 in South Carolina by a volunteer from the Charleston Museum (USA). The investigation of the remains has resulted in an incredible discovery: it is a bird with wings so long and slender that they could reach 7.5 meters and glide over large areas of land without problem.
The remains of the bird, which has been baptized as Pelagornis sandersi , have a wingspan of 6.4 meters, which means that its wings are twice as large as those of the well-known Royal Albatross. According to the researchers, it would have lived between 25 and 28 million years ago and had a long beak with sharp teeth in addition to its characteristic enormous wings that allowed it to fly many kilometers without beating them.
This discovery has displaced the bird that was considered, until now, the largest in the world , the magnificent Argentine ( Argentavis magnificens ) with 6.4 meters long. However, the reason for the extinction of this unique bird remains a mystery.
Image Credit: Liz Bradford
