sparten

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060112/...ncient_mystery
Researcher: Early Man Was Hunted by Birds By ALEXANDRA ZAVIS, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jan 12, 1:27 PM ET



JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - A South African anthropologist said Thursday his research into the death nearly 2 million years ago of an ape-man shows human

"These types of discoveries give us real insight into the past lives of these human ancestors, the world they lived in and the things they feared," Lee Berger, a paleo-anthropologist at Johannesburg's University of Wi****ersrand, said as he presented his conclusions about a mystery that has been debated since the remains of the possible human ancestor known as the Taung child were discovered in 1924.

The Taung child's discovery led to the search for human origins in Africa, instead of in Asia or Europe as once theorized. Researchers regard the fossil of the ape-man, or australopethicus africanus, as evidence of the "missing link" in human evolution.

Researchers had speculated the Taung child was killed by a leopard or saber-toothed feline. But 10 years ago, Berger and fellow researcher Ron Clarke submitted the theory the hunter was a large predatory bird, based on the fact most of the other fossils found at the same site were small monkeys that showed signs of having been killed by a predatory bird.

Berger and Clarke had until now been unable to show damage on the child's skull that could have been done by a bird.

Five months ago, Berger read an Ohio State University study of the hunting abilities of modern eagles in West Africa believed similar to predatory birds of the Taung child's era.

The Ohio State study determined that eagles would swoop down, pierce monkey skulls with their thumb-like back talons, then hover while their prey died before returning to tear at the skull. Examination of thousands of monkey remains produced a pattern of damage done by birds, including holes and ragged cuts in the shallow bones behind the eye sockets.

Berger went back to the Taung skull, and found traces of the ragged cuts behind the eye sockets. He said none of the researchers who had for decades been debating how the child died had noticed the eye socket damage before.

Berger concluded man's ancestors had to survive not just being hunted from the ground, but from the air. Such discoveries are "key to understanding why we humans today view the world they way we do," he said.

Berger's research has been reviewed by others and is due to appear in the February edition of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
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Whew, thank god they no longer exist. Otherwise we would need AAA guns whenever we went out! Right to bear arms? More like a necessity. The requirements for civilized living? Food, clothing,shelter, 40mm ack ack.

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"Any relations in a social order will endure if there is infused into them some of that spirit of human sympathy, which qualifies life for immortality." ~ George William Russell

The Chap

Brings to mind the large (extinct) eagles of NZ. Not to mention the Thunderbird myths of American Indians. There is a 'photo I recall seeing printed in Fortean Times of some pioneers holding the trophy carcass of a huge raptor. Possibly a hoax. Circa 1870.

One that is not is the semi-fossil from Argentina circa. 2000 of an even larger avian from the late metozoic (sabre-tooth time ) with a wingspan of some twenty five feet. A raptor.

Eek indeed!

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Where's the bloody gin? An army marches on its liver, not its ruddy stomach.

Lunatock

I beleive those were raptors too big to fly, and were known as "terror birds".

RustyBattleship

There have been reports up to the 1950's of some very large birds still existing in the western part of North America. One is suspected of causing a jet liner to crash when hitting the rudder and throwing the plane out of control. But there has been no official confirmation of that.

I know personally of one sighting that was a case of a camper with no knowledge of California fauna (he was from Minnesota) when he and his group were startled one evening by a huge bird hopping past their campsite. I grilled him for description details and the location of his camp and came to the conclusion that they sighted an extremely rare California Condor that was probably looking for a midnight snack of chipmunk or gopher.

Back in the late 19th century, the Tombstone Epitaph (of Tombstone, Arizona) supposedly printed a picture of a giant bird nailed to the side of a barn with several men with outstretched arms standing in front of it. Probably the same photo you mention.

Again, no official confirmation of that picture. But for every legend, there is something real that started it.

Dreadnought

The largest winged predator I ever saw was in Montana. A very large Golden Eagle that actually chased our truck for a few hundred yards before giving up. In my life I have never seen a bird act anything like that toward human beings. I did however have the pleasure of holding one with the glove at an Eagles rock concert that green peace was going to release into the wild. You wont imagine how large these birds are until you are face to face with them. I certanly can believe the fact that man was hunted by its ancestors.

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Parihaka

Haast eagle. They were still in existance 300-350 yrs ago. there's skeletons in our local museum of moa skulls where the eagle claws have punched through the skull. This particular moa would, like the ones in the picture, have stood 12-13 feet tall.



And guess what? we,ve got intact DNA from their eggs. On the one hand I've love to see these babies fly but then I think, do I really want my 5 yr old carrying around a shotgun to protect herself from them?

Amled

Facinating parihaka, I knew of the Moa and heard of the extinct eagles, but not the size of them!
Don't blame you for being hesitant to have them brought back. Just think if they had the same disposition (attitude) as the Golden Eagle Dreadnought described above.
Never mind a shotgun, you'd need to equip your cars with multibarrel anti-air artillery!

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When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow. - Anais Nin

sparten

As I pointed out, 40 MM ack ack would be a necessity.
Dalcons have attacked people in Pakistan, but so far only injuries no deaths have resulted.

Parihaka

Ah Sparten, you'd take all the fun out of it. Japanese Katana, single shot shotgun, or even if you're game a south American Bola but 40MM ack ack? Where's your sense of adventure man?

Parihaka

That is one beautiful bird.

sparten

I have had enough fun with the Leopards that have made Islamabad an eatery.
On a more serious note, I would love to see some of those in real life, I saw a Royal White Falcon once. Huge!

Dreadnought

Kind of fitting to us humans, alot of the things we find beautiful are just as dangerous to us.

The Chap

The Argentine spec. was not one of the Evil-ostritch family. It was a flying nightmare. I shall endeav. to find a photo. It really does resemble the 'pic with pioneers.

By the way, thank you all for showing I'm not quite mad yet!

Anyone for a cryptozoo. thread? Given we are a widely dispersed bunch it might be interesting. A buddy has a girlfriend researching pigmy jungle elephants north of Ghana. No-one knew they existed 'til 15 yrs ago!

I have chums who swear they have seen big cats in Essex.

Anything from small to large. Tas. Tiger up to Megaladon (Sydney habour: early twenties?)

Giant Hogs count for those in the American south.

Any Canouk reports of the Wendigo will not only chill my blood but force me to buy an air ticket.

RustyBattleship

Who do you think you are? Peter Sellers? LOL that's what he used for Dove hunting in the movie "The Magic Christian".

Dreadnought

Every now and then they spot a big cat in NewJersey/Delaware/Pennsylvania. Most are false alarms but they have in fact photographed a mountain lion roaming around. I guess the missing cats and dogs blew his cover.

Then ofcaourse theres the myth of the Jersey Devil.