Terror birds were wretched creatures. They grew up to nine feet tall. They crushed prey with their horse-sized skulls. They stalked ecosystems and created misery for almost everything.
A new discovery by Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche and Washington Jones, published in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, suggests terror birds might have once ruled Antarctica.
Antarctica today is an inhospitable place. To quote the US Antarctica Program, “it is the coldest, windiest, [and] harshest continent.” Over 98% of its land is covered by thick ice sheets. Temperatures near the South Pole average -28°C (-18°F) in summer and -60°C (-76°F) in winter. Not an ideal location for your next vacation home.