Gastornis (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History)

For decades, the large beak of Diatryma gigantea led scientists to believe this huge bird was a carnivore that hunted small horses, like Eohippus. But its beak and claws were not strongly hooked like raptors' today. Newer evidence found in its bone chemistry suggests that it may have eaten plants.

Diatryma and its kin disappeared about 40 million years ago, but it has distant living relatives: chicken, turkey, duck, and geese.

This specimen lived 55-53 million years ago and was collected in 1916 in Wyoming.

Trouvé ici.