Prehistoric Goose Was The Size Of A Small Plane And Had Bony Teeth

This kind of Mother Goose is no fairy tale. A 50 million year old skull reveals that huge birds with a 5 meter wingspan once skimmed across the waters that covered what is now London, Essex and Kent. These giant ocean-going relatives of ducks and geese also had a rather bizarre attribute for a bird: their beaks were lined with bony-teeth.

Wowsers, what with the talk of thunderbirds, I thought I'd add this article. Heard about it on the drive to work today. Not exactly mythological, but the size is definitely reminiscent.
Giant, teethed, geese. Geese are very territorial birds, and attack people on occasion. Kinda fits some of the stories.

I would not want to run into one of those fellas. I've seen grown men run like girls from a single charging goose, they're very moody animals. Beautiful, though.

reply to post by RuneSpider


Wow, a huge goose with teeth, truly terrifiying!

Having been chased by a Goose, I don't want to imagine one with teeth...

reply to post by Orion52


Let alone the size of a small airplane. Heck of a thing to be "goosed" by, eh?

just to be pedantic - that is nowhere near the size of a ` small plane `

reply to post by ignorant_ape



Sorry, forgot the link. Supposedly the bird had a wingspan of 16 feet, bigger than the wingspan of some ultralights I've seen, so actually, it is. Just barely, but still.
Also, just realized I forgot the link.


Edit:
I DID IT AGAIN! Yeesh.

news.yahoo.com...

[edit on 29-9-2008 by RuneSpider]

I have a big chunk out of my leg from a goose.

makes me shudder about a giant toothy goose...