Prehistoric Predators: The Bizarre Biology of Terror Birds

What kind of predator needs no teeth to terrify its prey? The terror birds were enormous flightless hunters that ruled South America for millions of years, standing metres tall and built for a life of pursuit and slaughter. In this episode, Tristan Hughes is joined by palaeontologist Dr Steve Brusatte to explore the world of the phorusrhacids. What were these extraordinary birds really like? How did they dominate an isolated South America after the extinction of the dinosaurs? And what ultimately brought their predatory reign to an end? 0:00 Introduction 0:39 The host and Dr Steve Brusatte 1:40 What were terror birds? 5:04 The origin of terror birds 7:23 South America as an island continent 9:07 The asteroid impact and dinosaur extinction 13:06 The mass extinction survivors 15:04 How birds grew and diversified 18:05 Modern relatives of terror birds 21:04 Physical characteristics and hunting style 25:23 Pre-historic prey in South America 32:03 How terror birds lost their tails 34:03 Smaller species of terror birds 37:16 The extinction of terror birds 43:08 Dr Steve Brusatte's new book Presented by Tristan Hughes. Producers are Joseph Knight & McKenna Fernandez, senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Editor is Matthew Wilson. Channel manager is Vilde Øksnes. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. All music from Epidemic Sounds. History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™ #HistoryHitPodcast #TheAncients #TerrorBirds