Episode 240 - Terror Birds

For most of the Cenozoic Era, South America was home to an incredible group of predatory birds called phorusrhacids, which included some of the largest carnivorous birds of all time. With their giant axe-like beaks and powerful clawed legs, these giants have gained the nickname “terror birds.” This episode, we explore what makes these birds unique, how they varied across their diversity, and what exactly they were doing with all those terrifying tools.

In the news: a bitten plesiosaur, wildflower adaptation, a new croc, and dinosaur parents.

Time markers:

Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00

News: 00:06:25

Main discussion, Part 1: 00:51:30

Main discussion, Part 2: 01:29:30

Patron question: 02:30:05

Some helpful links mentioned in the Announcements:

The Trevor Project: thetrevorproject.org

The National Immigrant Justice Center: immigrantjustice.org

Pal Humanity: chuffed.org/project/122818-support-north-gaza-…

Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: commondescentpodcast.com

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Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic

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The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at ocremix.org

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0