As if in flight (Image: S. Tränkner/Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg)
IT WAS a bird that really lived up to its dinosaur heritage.
For decades, fragmentary fossils had hinted that extinct birds once had wingspans of 6 metres, more than twice that of the wandering albatross, which now holds the record. Now we finally have proof for such giants: a 70 per cent complete skeleton of Pelagornis chilensis, a sea bird that lived 5 to 10 million years ago in Chile.
The bones suggest its wingspan was at least 5.2 metres, says David Rubilar of the National Museum of Natural History…
