Flores Island in Indonesia, became famous in 2004 when a group of Australian paleontologists discovered in the caves remains of smaller human ancestor known to date: Homo floresiensis. Not just measured 1.5 meters in height, but populated the Earth parallel to the Homo Sapiens.
Now, paleontologists from the National Museum of Natural History Lienden, Holland, and the National Center for Archaeology, Jakarta, were surprised to find that four bones found on this island are a new kind of bird: it is a Leptoptilos robustus, a scavenger bird of the stork family, who lived 20,000 years ago in Florida, but that was more than 1.8 meters tall and weighed over 16 kilos. The fossils were
found in the Liang Bua cave, the site where Homo floresiensis was found, known as the "Hobbit." Researchers believe that both species were closely related, as both fossils were found in the same layer of excavation and part of the same animals that became extinct on Flores about 17,000 years ago. "The island was isolated from the rest of the world for a long time and, therefore, had a unique ecosystem that evolved very different from anywhere else," he told La Tercera Hanneke Meijer. Why was it so big? Meijer says the giant marabou adapted to the role of predators on an island without mammalian carnivores, the it did evolve and be fairly large. On the island of Flores were also found pygmy elephants and giant rats and lizards.
Now, paleontologists from the National Museum of Natural History Lienden, Holland, and the National Center for Archaeology, Jakarta, were surprised to find that four bones found on this island are a new kind of bird: it is a Leptoptilos robustus, a scavenger bird of the stork family, who lived 20,000 years ago in Florida, but that was more than 1.8 meters tall and weighed over 16 kilos. The fossils were
found in the Liang Bua cave, the site where Homo floresiensis was found, known as the "Hobbit." Researchers believe that both species were closely related, as both fossils were found in the same layer of excavation and part of the same animals that became extinct on Flores about 17,000 years ago. "The island was isolated from the rest of the world for a long time and, therefore, had a unique ecosystem that evolved very different from anywhere else," he told La Tercera Hanneke Meijer. Why was it so big? Meijer says the giant marabou adapted to the role of predators on an island without mammalian carnivores, the it did evolve and be fairly large. On the island of Flores were also found pygmy elephants and giant rats and lizards.
Sources: diario.latercera.com
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