Scientists Find Evidence Of Oversized Eagles With 10-Foot Wingspan In Australia, Like The Ones From 'Lord Of The Rings', Cue Funny Comments and Cool Facts
A new species of extinct eagle has been confirmed in Australia recently, Gaff's powerful eagle (Dynatoaetus gaffae). It has a supposed 10-foot wingspan and used to prey on the megafauna (fancy words for big animals) of Australia over 60,000 years ago. Researchers knew about the presence of Gaff's powerful eagle for years, but they never had a full skeleton until recently, when the missing piece of the puzzle was unearthed in Australia in 2021.
If you're anything like us, you love 'Lord Of The Rings', so the idea of a giant eagle actually existing is pretty darn cool. They were apparently very strong, enough to carry large animals in their 12-inch talons (around 30 centimeters!). So, basically, what the researchers are saying is that, technically, they would be strong enough to carry the Hobbits from Mordor to the Shire. We're not ruling it out. Anyway, this story is pretty cool and if you're a LOTR fan, you'll appreciate some of the comments below. Fly, you fools!
If you're interested, you can read the whole article here!
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It's hard to imagine a bird big enough to pick up and hunt a kangaroo. Have you seen one in real life? They're practically human-sized. Sure, some of them are smaller, but some are really big guys. That's one big bird!
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Wait, wait, wait, now you're telling us that there were giant kangaroos too? We would not like to have been alive 60,000 years ago. Everything must have been so much bigger and we'd just be there like…..fire?
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The newly discovered eagle species was nearly double the size of the wedge-tailed eagle pictured here.
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A giant Philippine eagle, with traits similar to those of the extinct Gaff’s powerful eagle.
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An illustration of the skeletal model of Dynatoaetus gaffae.
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