The Largest Birds EVER Are Coming Back From the Dead! How Ratites Took Over the World. 

Thanks! I can't become a member, but still enjoy them!

two words, moar dinosaurs!

Flight limits size? What about quetzalcoatlus and hatzegopteryx?

​@@bradley4706They were large quadrupeds while birds stand on two legs, the upper limit on birds as far as we've seen is a 150 lb condor like animal, Argentavis Magnificens.

@@concon9107 yes but the idea was the larger the thing the less it could fly. But they were much larger and could fly. Or at least people think they could fly.

Actually, I think they found that giant tortoises did an even better job of distributing the seeds. The birds that were used in the experiment had to be force fed.

Still, many seeds need a proper intestinal Passage to germinate. Poo is a good fertilizer. 😅

Fascinating 🤩👍

The researchers could have skipped the birds and did it themselves. It's not a particular bird, or even any bird. It's just the digestive process through the system of any bird or mammal is needed to break down some of the outer casing, which normally wouldn't allow it to germinate properly unless it had spent a LONG time in the soil. In most cases you can carefully slice the casing or similar, or soak it in something for a while that will soften it. The bird method is just some extraneous nonsense added to promote the story.

Humans don't use gastroliths, so I'm curious if the wear caused by digestive gravel is relevant in this case. I believe there are other plants that require this as well

Cassowaries, pit bulls for bird people.

Given that he's done videos on King Cobras and Black Mambas, there's no reason he couldn't do a video on whether Cassowaries are the best pet birds even though we all know they aren't. It's not like anybody thought that King Cobras or Black Mambas were the best pet snakes either. They were still great videos.

I've learned from my past mistakes. Thank you Aussies for your patience with my ignorance and your willingness to teach me the way.

Ditto!

Strange. I’ve only ever heard people pronounce it that way. Didn’t realize it was uncommon.

I mean you guys lost a war to them so it makes sense that you guys have to say it correctly, I will probably continue butchering the pronunciation since I dont have emus breathing down my neck.

@@Exquailibur Tbf they are pretty terrifying as far as birds go… not as scary as this black masked love bird I used to have though.

Evolution is pseudo science though... modern science has long retired it. encode project alone flat out proved humans never evolved.

all old islands have some level of weirdness. remember, the British isles have only been islands for a relatively short time. in the early bronze age, you could walk from italy to Scotland, no boat required.

Hopefully he can visit Madagascar. That'd be fun.

I read that the island was part of the mainland,,, a million years ago or more,,,I don't remember. The animals, all fauna, we😊re isolated at that point. It would be odd if it wasn't really different on Madagascar.

@@Hankyjane way more than a million. More like 10 million. One million years is not even enough to make a horse.

@@marvalice3455 Way more than 10 million. Madagascar has not been connected to anything since 90 million years ago, and that thing it was connected to 90 million years ago was India. That's right. India and Madagascar used to be one large island. The last time they were connected to a continent is estimated to be over 160 million years ago during the breakup of Gondwana. That is when Madagascar separated from the African plate. But even earlier than that, it is possible there is already a sea that flooded that part of the continent, so that there a geographic barrier for animals to cross, if not a geological one. The ancestors of all the native birds, mammals, and reptiles that evolved on Madagascar are all suspected of having arrived after it was an island. So the ur-lemur, ur-chameleon, and ur-euplerid all probably rafted there or much less likely swam there. The ancestor of elephant birds probably flew there from somewhere, but it could have rafted too.

We have no physical dna patterns making it’s almost impossible

If you want to “de-extinct” do it for the Tasmanian Tiger, it's actually needed, the dodo would be a waste of time.

Wasn't the Dodo's taste actually awful? To the point you had to kill other things just to mix them with the Dodo and make it barely bearable? I think outside of it's ecological niche in that Island it doesn't have a purpose, and that island still has the conditions that drove the Dodo to extinction.

​@@mexcore14i think they meant as a pet and farm (egg) population

If we had genetic material for dodos, they would definitely be the first on the list. Unfortunately, dodos were not archived well. My dad's cousin's boyfriend rescued the head of a dodo out of a museum trash burn when he recognized what it was (both zoologists). The Mount had been invested with dermestid beetles, so they were burning it not even considering that there could be unique material there. That head and foot are 2 of the only pieces we have left of a dodo and they are not in good condition for DNA recovery (burn damage and mold damage from mount being poorly done originally). In recent articles I haven't even seen that specimen listed as one in existence, so it's possible that something further happened to it since then. If I remember correctly it is in Australia. Unless something shows up in a private collection somewhere, I'm afraid that dodos are gone for good. The only other chance we have is possibly a partially developed egg that got buried really deep on the island that hasn't been found yet somehow. Edit: okay I found it, Oxford has it now! www.google.com/search?q=dodo+specimens+remaining&client=ms-android-google&sca_esv=581526710&sxsrf=AM9HkKkvLZ89Y5nOMijSfepzCXKLuFRfNg%3A1699714828495&ei=DJdPZeHXHe_NkPIPkaiNkAI&oq=dodo+specimens+remaining&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIhhkb2RvIHNwZWNpbWVucyByZW1haW5pbmcyBRAhGKABSMY6UKkLWLUxcAN4AJABAZgBjgGgAecYqgEFMjEuMTK4AQPIAQD4AQGoAg_CAggQABiiBBiwA8ICBxAjGOoCGCfCAgoQIxiKBRjqAhgnwgIEECMYJ8ICCxAuGLEDGIoFGJECwgIIEAAYigUYkQLCAggQLhiABBixA8ICBxAAGIoFGEPCAhAQLhiKBRixAxjHARjRAxhDwgILEAAYigUYsQMYkQLCAgsQABiABBixAxiDAcICCBAuGIoFGJECwgIKEAAYgAQYFBiHAsICBRAAGIAEwgIGEAAYFhgewgIIEAAYigUYhgPiAwQYASBBiAYBkAYE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#vhid=6lQtMm5qxl9uUM&vssid=l It's pretty crazy to think that he pulled that out of a fire and that somebody didn't recognize it and thought it was just some piece of junk.

Honestly if we can bring them back we should given we were the reason they went extinct in the first place. However they should only be in North America because 1 the climate and bountiful open fields are more appropriate for them 2 they won’t be in direct competition with elephants making existence easier for both species.

In 2024 they're trying to D extinct the mammoth they actually have a large land set aside in Siberia I believe

@@steakinbacon8593 Mammoths still exist! they are Indian Elephants!

Those big islands, especially some place like Madagascar that's so close to Africa, it's kind of a surprise that no predators ever colonized the place. I mean, I wouldn't expect enough lions to get across the sea to Madagascar to establish a population, but some kind of wild dogs or cats could have made it across and gone completely nuts as the only predators until humans colonized the island.

​@@richardkenan2891 Madagascar does actualy have "large" predators, the fossas. While they would pose no threat to an adult elephant bird, there is no doubt that some chicks were taken by fossas

Australia is the biggest island in the world 😉

Madagascar is not a small landmass. It is the size of the Eastern Seaboard of the US. Hardly Island gigantism.

What about Neanderthals and other hominids?

@@EarthWalkerOne Tough question. I think it would still be worth doing, but with a lot of care given to the ethical mire involved.

So emus are true to form for Aussie wild life, they will (try to) kill you.

...he did mention that in this video...27:27-28:57 maybe don't say something was neglected to be mentioned if you're just going to skip the entire chunk that states exactly what you said.

It really is Fascinating considering the fact that Jacqueline is in the process of reverse engineering. A chicken back into a dinosaur he was an inspiration for the movie Jurassic park!!! And SAM Neil. " ALAN GRANT " WAS BASED ON. " JACK HORNER " " THE DINO BIRD " WILL BE AROUND MABY WITH IN 10 YEARS. JACK HORNER HAS BOOKS AND DONE EPISODES ON TED TALKS AND LOTS OF OTHER SHOWS AND ALMOST ABLE TO COMPLETELY REVERSE ENGINEERING A CHICKEN BACK INTO A DINOSAUR!!!

Well he is a biologist

Best teachers have 😊love for their subjects. Here is a real teacher.

Too bad Thylacoleo carnifex is forgotten. That one is the real "tiger" of the group.

Also, we should absolutely bring back Moa. Cattle do pretty terrible damage to NZ's environment. Sheep are better but not worth much money any more cause people wear plastic now, plus they still aren't supposed to be here. I reckon we should build a new agricultural industry on Moas. Sell the world giant eggs and giant drumsticks. Kaitaia Fried Chicken.

@ggoannas I have never left Australia. Too much that I still have to experience here. However, I too like Emus but my favourite bird of that type is definitely the Cassowary. I've lived in Far Nth Queensland and have seen Cassowaries many times. They are smaller than Emus but are magnificent in their colour, and stockiness. And contrary to legend, are quite placid if not threatened. I've been lucky enough to see Emus in the wild, in zoos, and emus that choose to hang around remote outstations or roadhouses because there's reliable water and an easy feed from tourists and locals. Hann River Roadhouse, on the Peninsula Development Road on Cape York, has an Emu that has hung around for years. Emus also make regular appearances at Musgrave Roadhouse, on the Cape.

@@BradGryphonn I miss Australia very much. The smell of eucalyptus, the white trunks, the red earth, the flocks of parrots, the little streams full of sicle like gum leaves, the blue wrens glinting like jewels in the undergrowth and the calls of the bellbirds. I could go on and on….

@@BradGryphonn Thanks! I will.

Ahahahahah

Lol 😂

Yeah, imagine being a little kid and going on a trip to the zoo and they tell you "this bird should be dead. And it was. The only reason it's here is because of humans, but the only reason it died is humans. Prevent the ratite's story from repeating itself."

I dont think it would be impossible, but the first batch would be full of surprises since we know little about them. Pretty much every behavior would be unknown to us and we would have to figure out what role they fill in the ecosystem.

Why should it be impossible to reintroduce Moas?

@@magnuslunzer2335 the environment probably wouldn’t support them anymore, that and it would throw the ecosystem off

Plus mounted combat

Holy moly

Some have Tomia, and it’s a little shocking.

Wow, that wikipedia page was interesting. Based off genetics they're the last surviving species of a line of birds that branched off 64 million years ago. That's a long time but still way more recent than I thought birds retained teeth at all.

@@DakotaRowehl only One milion years After the great kaboom? Man that means they are more like dinosaurs than the rest of the birds in the world, we gotta protect the precious

I know you didn’t specify claws but what I find even cooler about birds as a whole is a LOT of them still have claws on their wings, Cassowaries have especially prominent claws but even something like the chicken does have noticeable claws. Which is what will always be in the back of my mind whenever I see a whole chicken at the grocery store.