#titanis walleri

[gnoempire]

Run where they can't follow.

For decades, we've thought that pronghorns evolved for speed because of Miracynonix, or the American cheetah, which preyed on them extensively during the Pleistocene. However, in February, new fossil evidence suggested that ancestors of pronghorns began this process at least 5 million years before the appearance of Miracynonix. We typically think of predators as trailblazers, as shapers of the world -- but don't often consider that it may have been the prey that changed them.

Extinct animals from left to right: Miracynonix trumani, Chasmaporthetes ossifragus, and Titanis walleri

[draconym]

Gerald is still a work in progress.

[joitiks]

the paynes prairie preserve incident

[fictional-characters-as-birds]

Solanum from Outer Wilds is a Titanis walleri!

Reasons for choice below cut

I'll be honest, I've yet to meet Solanum! The only reason I know about her is because I actively ignored spoilers believing I'd never own the game anyways (you'd never guess what I now own 🥲).

What I have explored of Outer Wilds, I always get a bit choked up looking around the Nomia ruins. They seemed so beautiful and wonderful, but they are gone now. You can only really imagine what they were like, and that makes my heart ache.

I feel the same way about so many extinct bird species, and particularly chose a Terror Bird because of the almost myth like status they've obtained as ancient, beautiful, and powerful things now long gone, a mystery to us.

[fabfire1234]

DinApril Day 12: A Neogene dinosaur (that your father saw).

Welcome to DinApril 2026, where instead of recycling my list from last year, I made my father come up with the dinosaurs! Our twelfth day features a Neogene dinosaur: Titanis walleri! Three brothers have come across a recently-deceased giant ground sloth (emphasis on "giant"), but right as they started eating a lesser short-faced bear has challenged them for the carcass. The most impulsive brother refuses to take this challenge lying down, so he battles the bear while his brothers watch, occasionally sneaking bites from the sloth's tail.

I really wanted to draw a terror bird fighting a bear this year, although somehow I get the feeling this scene will eventually lead to a terror bird retelling of Brother Bear.

Coloration inspired by the Eikoh Miniatureplant Titanis from 2021.

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Titanis

Image: Sergey Krasovskiy

"For decades, terror birds have been reconstructed as predators that swiftly ran down their prey and used their heavy beaks to slice through skin and muscle. This is apparent on the basis of their anatomy alone, but how fast could they run? Ernesto Blanco and Washington Jones approached this question six years ago by estimating the strength of the tibiotarsus – the lower leg bone between the femur and ankle – in three terror birds of varying size. By determining how strong this bone was, the maximum running speed of the birds could be calculated. Both a large, unnamed bird and the mid-sized Patagornis were estimated to reach speeds up to 30 miles per hour, while the smaller Mesembriornis was projected to reach the astonishing speed of 60 miles per hour – as fast as a cheetah. In the case of Mesembriornis, specifically, its legs seem to be overbuilt, and the scientists suggest that this bird likely had a powerful kick to kill prey and perhaps crack bones to get at the marrow inside."

- National Geographic (or, if you don't want to enter your email, I put the article in a google doc)

[cloudypetrel]

Titanis Walleri Running

There is no war in Ba Sing Se There is no war in Ba Sing Se I did not forget to fix the rump feathers There is no war in Ba Sing Se

Her name is Saddle! It feels good to use Rebelle's oil brushes again. I'm still too scared to shade something that isn't hyperstylized and simple.

For the initial sketch she is supposed to be laying down, but then I realized that was too hard to draw.

[blaiddydsaurus]

Titanis Walleri