\u201cBy to\u00adday\u2019s stan\u00addards these were pret\u00adty bi\u00adzarre an\u00adi\u00admals, but per\u00adhaps the strang\u00adest thing about them is that they had sharp, tooth-like pro\u00adjec\u00adtions along the cut\u00adting edges of the beak,\u201d said Ger\u00adald Mayr of the Ger\u00adman Senck\u00aden\u00adberg Re\u00adsearch In\u00adsti\u00adtute and au\u00adthor of the re\u00adport.<\/p>\n With a wingspan of some 15 foot (five metres), Dasornis is similar in habits to the Albatross but 40 percent bigger.<\/p>\n Said Mayr:<\/p>\n No liv\u00ading birds have true teeth\u2014which are made of enam\u00adel and den\u00adtine\u2014be\u00adcause their dis\u00adtant an\u00adces\u00adtors did away with them more than 100 mil\u00adlion years ago, probably to save weight and make fly\u00ading eas\u00adier.<\/p>\n But the bon\u00ady-toothed birds, like Da\u00adsor\u00adnis, are un\u00adique among birds in that they rein\u00advented tooth-like structures by evolv\u00ading these bony spikes.<\/p>\n These birds probably skimmed across the sur\u00adface of the sea, snap\u00adping up fish and squid on the wing. With only an or\u00addi\u00adnary beak these would have been dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to keep hold of, and the pseudo-teeth evolved to prevent meals slip\u00adping away.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Seems like a rather dodgy description of the evolutionary process to me, especially coming from a scientist — but I know what he meant.<\/p>\n Another monster from the Great Age of Monsters! An article in the journal Pal\u00adae\u00adon\u00adtol\u00adogy for 26 September describes the skull of a monstrous prehistoric seabird dated as some 50 million years old. The bird is interesting in being the size … Continue reading ![\"Artist](\"http:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/dasornis.jpg\" "\\"dasornis\\"")
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\n<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"