sholio | Nature why are you like this

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Nature why are you like this

So I'm reading this book on megafaunal extinctions, as you do - interesting book, I'll probably do a book report when I'm done - but I have just discovered the fact that prehistoric Cuba had a megafaunal owl that was about 3-4 ft high and too heavy to fly, so it had long legs for running after prey.

I just.....

diagram of a stilt-legged owl silhouette coming up past the waist of a human figure

diagram of a stilt-legged owl silhouette coming up past the waist of a human figure

Imagine you're minding your own business and that goes sprinting past.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I need one as a pet immediately,

OMG!!!!!!

Yes. This is excellent. Carry on.

I love that and I want one.

A shifter book waiting to happen...

When she expects a bear or a dragon, how can he tell her he's a SPRINTING FLIGHTLESS OWL ... but wait until his ability to run 30 mph for extremely short periods of time saves the day!

lolololol

Velociowl!

❤️ your Geoffrey Tennant icon.

I already want to read the book. Tell me more!

The book is End of the Megafauna: The Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals by Ross D E MacPhee. It has a ton of lovely illustrations, big color plates of prehistoric fauna on various continents and islands, which are actually the reason I bought it, but there's also a decent top-level overview of the various theories for recent mass extinctions and the evidence for/against them.