Gastornis
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 Gastornis fossil skeleton
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Gastornis is an extinct genus of large flightless birds that lived during the late Paleocene and Eocene periods of the Cenozoic. Gastornis lived in Europe, but it had an extremely close relative in North America; the North American bird is often called Diatryma (DIE-a-TREE-ma), but experts now believe they both belong in the Gastornis genus.
Gastornis measured on average 1.75 m tall, while "Diatryma" was 2m tall. It had a remarkably huge beak, which may mean that it was carnivorous. Classically, Gastornis has been depicted as predatory, although the beak may simply have been used for sexual display, and probably was better suited for crushing seeds and vegetation than for tearing or cutting flesh. Similar (but unrelated) gigantic birds were the South American Phorusrhacoids and the Australian Dromornithidae (Genyornis). The former were certainly carnivorous, and the latter possibly so.
The closest living relatives of Gastornis are the Anseriformes, which include waterfowl and screamers. In fact, gastornithids might well be anseriforms themselves.
Gastornis's name means 'Gaston's bird'; it is named after Gaston Planté, who discovered the first fossils at Geiseltal, Germany.
Gastornis appeared in the CGI series Walking with Beasts. It also made an appearance in the 2006 CGI family film Ice Age: The Meltdown.
[edit] References
- Hébert, E. (1855): Note sur le tibia du Gastornis parisiensis. C.R. Acad. Sc. Paris 40: 579-582. [Article in French]
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