<
https://theconversation.com/australias-extinct-giant-eagle-was-big-enough-to-snatch-koalas-from-trees-200341>
"The year is 1959. Speleologists descend a 17-metre shaft to explore the depths
of Mairs Cave in the southern Flinders Ranges. Some 55 metres into the main
chamber, they find fossils scattered throughout a boulder pile. Among these
fossils are a claw and part of a wing bone that appear to have come from a
large eagle.
Over a decade passes. An expedition to the cave, led by naturalist Hans Mincham
and palaeontologist and geologist Brian Daily, now arrives with the purpose of
retrieving more fossils. Among the many mammal fossils they recover are another
talon and most of a large bird breastbone – from the same large eagle.
No more fossils of this animal are found until more than 50 years later. It is
December of 2021, and a team of Flinders University palaeontologists and
speleologists have travelled to the cave for a single purpose – to find more of
this enigmatic bird. As they descend into the cave’s depths, they hope to find
a few more bones. Instead, they find a partial skeleton, including leg and wing
bones, and a skull. With this last discovery, we were finally able to name and
describe this gigantic eagle in the
Journal of Ornithology."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
