The birds needed a very long time to grow and become mature.
who once lived on Earth. This helped them find out why these huge creatures died out, Forbes reports.
Dromornitids are also known as thunderbirds or demon ducks. They lived on the territory of modern Australia in the distant past. In the course of a new study, scientists studied the bones of these creatures, discovered within the Flinders Ranges, South Australia and near Alice Springs, which told scientists about how these birds reproduced, as well as how this could have affected their extinction.
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In the course of the study, scientists compared the bones of the largest representative of this group, Dromornis stirtoni, three meters tall and weighing 600 kilograms, with the last and smallest, Genyornis newtoni, two meters tall and weighing “only” 240 kilograms.
As a result, scientists found out that Dromornis stirtoni required a very long time to grow and become sexually mature, probably about 15 years. Genyornis newtoni grew faster, reaching adult size in just a few years and starting to produce offspring soon after. But in any case, this growth was much slower than that of all modern birds, which grow to adult size literally in a year and can give offspring already in the second year.
The last dromornitids shared the habitat with the emu, which are now the third largest birds in the world. They grow to adult size in one or two years and are capable of reproduction. This strategy allows the population to quickly recover when favorable conditions return after long periods of drought or food shortages, which can lead to reduced numbers of individuals.
Dromornithids managed to survive climate change, but around 50 thousand years ago humans burning bushes and hunting large animals. The different reproductive strategies of dromornitids and emus gave the latter an advantage when these birds crossed paths with humans. The last representatives of giant birds died out about 40 thousand years ago.
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