'Terror birds' had deep voices, fossil suggests

A 90%-complete "terror bird" skeleton found on an Argentinean beach suggests these big-beaked predators had good low-frequency hearing and deep voices.

It is the most complete skeleton ever discovered for one of these menacing beasts, and represents a new species.
Scientists have even been able to reconstruct the shape of its inner ear.

(Read the full Story at BBC's Website)


I've not heard of the Journel of Vertebrate Paleontology, in which scientists reported about the low-frequency hearing and deep voices of Phorusrhacids, but this is exciting stuff.

After the dinosaurs went extinct, 3m tall Phorushacids roamed the South American continent.  From skeletons of extinct animals excavated, it would appear that animals were so much larger in size than what is in existance today, and I wonder why.

The photograph of the Phorusrhacids' head with the solid bony beak is simply awesome.  Imagining a prey being hit by one of those powerful beaks, and not knowing what hit it.