Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
Terror Birds, known scientifically as Phorusrhacids, are giant, flightless birds that roamed the
world in the Cenozoic era.
These giant, carnivorous predators were, well, a terror in their time, but are believed to
have been extinct by the time humans came around.
But what if they hadn’t gone extinct, but rather survived to this day?
Let’s explore.
If you want more What If videos, check out our “Biggest What Ifs” playlist on the
channel.
Now get ready, it’s time to ask the question: What if Terror Birds Never Went Extinct?
Terror Birds were powerful predators, who feasted on smaller animals, possibly even
the apex predator while they were alive.
They sported a super strong and flexible neck, which was used to carry and wield its heavy,
powerful head, which ended in a powerful hook beak.
They also had a pair of strong, very long legs, which allowed them to move at great
speeds on foot.
It's believed that larger species would have been able to run over 45 km an hour.
While they tend to be compared to an ostrich, standing an average of about 7 feet tall,
it should be noted that there are many different species of Terror Bird.
Some were rather small, like those of the subfamily Psilopterinae, who stood just two
to three feet tall, while the tallest stood as high as 10 feet tall.
Terror Birds came to become dominant after the fall of the dinosaurs, stepping into a
predator position previously held by the likes of Velociraptor.
At one time, it was believed that these giant birds didn't go extinct until the arrival
of humans.
But further study has led scientists to believe that they likely died out about 2.5 million
years ago.
Some reports maintain that certain species survived until 20,000 years ago, but these
are widely debated.
However, let’s toss all that aside, and imagine a world where these giant, murderous
birds never went extinct at all.
Of course, in the wild, Terror Birds would be highly dangerous, and would likely remain
Apex predators.
With so much strength and speed, there’s very little an unarmed human could do against
a Terror bird.
We would likely be preyed upon by these animals until we learned to use tools.
As technology developed, we would then be able to put up more of a fight, but until
then, an encounter with a terror bird would be difficult to survive.
And if you’ve played Ark, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Their ferocity would make them highly desirable trophies for hunters, not to mention that
they might very well be quite tasty.
This would cause them to be hunted down for food and bragging rights, on top of protecting
others from them.
Particularly for early humans, these birds could pose a significant problem is found
in the wild so we would want to try to keep them away from populated areas.
The dangerous nature of these beasts might cause them to be seen as good tests of a warrior’s
ability.
In ancient times, when it was relatively common to see people fighting against various ferocious
animals, such as the Roman Gladiators, we might see Terror Birds taking the place of
other animals in the arena.
Considering they run on two feet, and are of similar height to humans, it would make
for a pretty exciting fight.
Of course, in determining how these birds might fare in a one on one bout, we would
need to know how they fought.
And thankfully, thanks to some rather unique characteristics in their bone structure, scientists
have a pretty good idea of how they went about attacking their prey.
A CT scan of a terror bird skull found that it would be very strong when used for up and
down movements.
For this reason, scientists believe that it would have attacked by striking prey with
its beak, using its head almost like an ax.
In the words of paleontologist Lawrence Witmer of Ohio University, they probably attacked,
quote, like Mohammad Ali, with multiple attacks, jabbing then retreating repeatedly."
This Mohammad Ali strategy would make fights against these birds excellent to watch since
they would be using their beaks in very much the same way the gladiators would use their
weapons.
Really, this might be one of the most interesting of all gladiator battles.
While the animals would, of course, be significantly stronger and faster, the similar attacking
style would give human gladiators a real chance to take advantage of their brains and dexterity.
The human-like attacks of the Terror Birds might make them a popular animal to fight
wherever such fights were historically held.
However, this wouldn’t continue forever.
Modern society frowns upon such violent forms of entertainment, so most parts of the world
would eventually find this kind of thing distasteful.
However, considering rodeo and bullfighting continue to exist, despite harming animals
a good deal, it seems likely that Terror Bird Fighting would also continue to exist, albeit
in a more limited way.
Some would protest, others would defend it as a tradition, and the world would go on.
However, the fighting ability of these birds would also likely make them highly popular
in myth and folk tales, with many a hero testing his mettle against one or more Terror Birds.
Forget the story of Gilgamesh and the Bull, it would be Gilgamesh and the Terror Bird.
Hercules might not fight the Nemean Lion, but rather the Nemean Terror Bird.
Bilbo wouldn’t be trying to steal Smaug the DRAGON’S treasure, he would be… well,
no, that one would probably stay the same.
Dragons are way cool.
That said, Terror Birds would not solely be found in arenas and myths.
They might also be used as mounts.
Fans of the video game Ark, which I’ve referenced many times in these videos, will know that
you can ride on top of Terror Birds in the game.
And if you think about it, terror birds might make pretty great mounts; not only are they
very fast, but they are also able to put forth a great deal of damage using their ax-like
head.
This would add an extra weapon to the arsenal of those riding atop Terror Birds.
We can look to Lord of the Rings for examples of this; not only do the Warg mounts used
by orcs provide fast transport and movement in battle, but they can also do damage themselves,
biting and scratching their enemies.
In this way, someone mounted atop a Terror Bird might have a big advantage against a
horse, since the Terror Bird could fight alongside its rider in combat.
Of course, there might be a few problems with this.
It might be difficult to sit on top of them, they may not be as smart as horses, and they
may not even be capable of holding the weight of a human.
However, with selective breeding, Terror Birds could be bred to be more suitable for riding.
Maybe they would become larger, with more room on which to sit, and better able to carry
a rider.
Speaking of selective breeding, this could bring about a whole whack of other uses for
Terror Birds.
If they were found to be tasty, we could make it so that they grow larger and fatter, and
even tastier.
We could breed some purely for speed, and race them at the tracks like greyhounds.
We could even breed them for defense or hunting.
The possibilities would be endless.
And now we return to our question: What if Terror Birds Never Went Extinct?
Well, in the wild, they would be powerful predators with little to fear.
They would dominate human myths and legends, with many a hero testing his swordplay against
the ax-like attacks of the Terror Bird.
Eventually, we might begin capturing them, and using them in gladiator arenas, at least
until this was seen as barbaric.
Later, through selective breeding, we might find ourselves with terror birds serving many
purposes, acting as mounts, racers, or even food.
They’d be scary to run into in the wild, but they’d be pretty darn useful to us if
we managed to tame them.
Thank you for watching Life’s Biggest Questions, I hope this was interesting and informative,
and maybe even inspired you to look into it further on your own.
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While you’re down there, let me know if YOU would want to ride a Terror Bird.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.