Terror Birds

[Fritz_Brown]

A giant dodo with an attitude, it looks like from this National Geographic article.

It was 3m tall, was as fast as a cheetah, and could swallow a medium-sized dog in a single gulp. (Yeah, but it couldn't swallow a Vargr!)

Of course, the article says it was made extinct by cats from North America, but I don't see how that's possible if it could run like a cheetah. Hmmm, uplifted Phorusrhacids....

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Is it a Phorohacos?

I always thought they rode these in the old video game "Joust".

Had a model of this as a kid.

 

[alanb]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
Of course, the article says it was made extinct by cats from North America, but I don't see how that's possible if it could run like a cheetah.

The extinction would have been due to competition, not hunting. In any case, cats are pouncers rather than chasers, so speed isn't an issue.

Also, for a laugh, Google "demon duck of doom" for a cool Australian critter of a similar type. Or just look here:
http://www.lostkingdoms.com/snapshots/miocene_late_animals_birds.htm

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by alanb:
Also, for a laugh, Google "demon duck of doom" for a cool Australian critter of a similar type.

Well, I, for one, am going to know what to say when the demon ducks show up. I've made a list of phrases, and although I don't know which one to use yet, they are all good enough in case they showed up tomorrow. Many people won't know what to say when the demon ducks show up, but I will. Maybe I'll say, "Oh horrifying demon ducks!" I practice these sayings every day, and even though the demon ducks haven't come yet, when they do, I'll know what to say.*

* Blatantly stolen from Steve Martin Down (harhar) the page here a bit...

The Complete Steve Martin

 

[alanb]

Actually, there was lot of neat Australian critters around at the time of the Ancients that are extinct today, plus various others that "might have still been around but it hasn't been proven yet".

I'm talking about really big snakes, really big lizards, carnivorous kangaroos and other funky marsupials. All weird enough to be interesting, and quite plausibly present on other worlds visited by the Ancients.

And in some cases you can find artist's reconstructions of them.

 

[Ran Targas]

^ There are some really cool mammals and birds from that period that make great monsters or even just color for an adventure. The Age of Mammals was chock full not only huge mammals but big everything; seems dinos left big shoes to fill.

I devoted a whole world IMTU as an Ancients sanctuary for these types of animals. Figured the Ancients would terra form a planet then pick up whole biospheres and drop them into place; animals, plants, and the uplifted species. Can't have Stone Age man without Stone Age animals and plants for him to live on. It's just this place never evolved beyond this state.

I even transplanted some Gigantopithecus, just my players haven't found them yet. Hmmm, maybe I should uplift a few; can you say, "Mighty Joe Young" meets "Planet of the Apes"?

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Originally posted by Ran Targas:
I devoted a whole world IMTU as an Ancients sanctuary for these types of animals. Figured the Ancients would terra form a planet then pick up whole biospheres and drop them into place; animals, plants, and the uplifted species.

You mean, like Dinosaur Planet and Dinosaur Planet Survivors by Ann McAffery?

 

[Ran Targas]

^ Sort of. I think it would be logical to expect the Ancients to want to maintain a viable breeding stock of humans in a relatively natural environment. To do this, they would replicate the biosphere as exactly as possible.

One reason for human diversity across the 3I could be explained by how well the Ancients were able to replicate the transplanted biosphere in the first place. If just one factor was off, the population could have died off or just maybe evolved to accept that factor as the norm. If you don't get the gravity just right then your humans 100 generations later are more robust or lighter limbed than original stock, depending on your error. Not enough blue/green light penetrating the atmosphere and your humans develop IR sight. No dominant moon to regulate bio functions and perhaps breeding is limited to only once a year. There are almost too many factors to address.

As I said, I transplanted a whole Pliestocene rain forest (a la Walking with Prehistoric Beasts). There were giant ground sloths, mega-boar, and other nasties. The inhabitants were basically Neanderthals with bits of Cargo Cult mythology mixed in. Made for an interesting campaign.

 

[mike wightman]

I like these ideas of your Ran, consider them borrowed for MTU ;

 

[dancha]

For what it's worth, in Dan Simmon's latest books ("Ilium" and "Olympos") these Terror Birds are recreated Jurassic Park-style and well, make life difficult for the protagonists...

 

[archhealer]

Wow. Wonder what a ranch for predatory large birds or saurians would look like. Stalls & Stables? Large, open pack-houses? Seperate ranch for breeding foodstock?