EUORNITHES
When Aotearoa seperated from the rest of Gondwana during the Cretaceous, it carried away with it an arkload of animals including sauropods, ornithopods and theropods. Whilst some modern groups, such as the primitive leiopelmatid frogs, are certainly relicts of those ancient days it seems that most of the larger forms died out as the Cenozoic progressed including all terrestrial mammals and non-avian dinosaurs, probably falling victim to fluctuating sea-levels and volcanic episodes. Taking their place were the true birds flying in from across the Tasman which, from a handful of volant species, evolved into a bizarre array of giant flightless herbivores and predators.
SAMPLE TAXA:The multitude of smaller islands and rich waters that surround the main pair have also become a paradise for birds. Procellariforms, penguins, cormorants and waders flocked to these islands to feed and breed, making the region a cradle of seabird evolution.
DIABLORNITHIDAE - Gobblers. large carnivorous ratite-like paleognaths of Aoteroa.
On Spec, true ratites appear to have never evolved, the opportunity never having presented itself with the continued existence of small bipedal dinosaurs across the K-T. However on Aotearoa one family of large flightless paleognaths, the Diablornithidae, has evolved and are probably the closest things to true ratites the Specworld has ever seen. Unlike the placid moas and kiwis of Arel's Aotearoa, the diablornithids, commonly called the gobblers due to their ravenous eating habits, are fearsome carnivores.The Gobblers are large flightless birds with heavy hooked beaks and long sharp claws. Their legs are long and powerful whilst their wings have been reduced to a few tiny bones. Even so, their sterna still bear vestigial keels betraying their flying ancestry.
A diverse collection of volant paleognaths once existed in Australia during the Paleogene including large stork and heron-like forms. Most of these lineages appear to have died out by the start Pliocene but by then at least one stork-like species had made the ardous flight across the Tasman to colonise Aotearoa and give rise to the diablornithids.
SAMPLE TAXA:
- Great gobbler
- Johnny gobbler
GIGANATIDAE - whopping great flightless anseriformes endemic to Aoteroa.
Flightless insular ducks and geese are not new and have evolved multiple times on Arel (including Arel's Aotearoa). However, with the notable exception of the dromornithids, few have reached the prodigous size and sheer weirdness of the giganatids, the major group of terrestrial herbivores on Spec's Aotearoa.Giganatids appear to be the flightless descendents of basal flying anserformes and are closely allied to the anseranatids and anhimids.
The the body feathers of most species have become hair-like and shaggy whilst the forelimbs have been reduced to stubby, almost useless structures. Most species have long, graceful necks and strengthened neck vertebrae, allowing their heads to be raised far above their body. They have a therizinosaur-like pot belly, the result of a very long gut and large gizzard. Their feet have lost all trace of webbing, however most species perform the characteristic duck-waddle when on the move. About a dozen species roam across the larger islands of Aotearoa ranging in size from small, grouse-like forms to enormous giraffe-like browsers.
- Lawnmoa
- Disco duck
- Big yellow gigaduck
(Text by Brian Choo)
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