xkcd

10112 readers

176 users here now

A community for a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

132

xkcd #3069: Terror Bird (xkcd.com)

submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

There has long been debate about Big Bird's species, with some experts claiming he was a canary, but recent genetic analysis places him firmly in Cariamiformes.

https://explainxkcd.com/3069/

top 7 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 days ago (3 children)

holy shit, its a horse sized duck!

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Can you handle it? Or do you want the alternative?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 days ago

A quick dive down a wiki hole has left me with the impression that this guy's contemporary duck-size proto-horses had large canine teeth.

I don't like my odds either way.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago

Funnily enough, Brontornis does now most frequently get placed in Anserimorphae alongside waterfowl, whereas it was previously most often thought to be a terror bird (though I should say there's still plenty of debate). It's thought to be heavier than any terror bird at possibly as much as 400kg - where the average horse apparently weighs 500kg.

Being extinct, I assume no one ever told it how to get to Sesame Street.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Would you rather fight a horse sized duck or a horse's weight in normal sized ducks?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 days ago

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago

AI knows how they interacted with humans...