Episode
Episode 240 - Terror Birds
- Podcast
- The Common Descent Podcast
- Published
- Mar 29, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 9746
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-common-descent-podcast-466591/episodes/episode-240-terror-birds/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast-466591/episode-240-terror-birds.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
For most of the Cenozoic Era, South America was home to an incredible group of predatory birds called phorusrhacids, which included some of the largest carnivorous birds of all time. With their giant axe-like beaks and powerful clawed legs, these giants have gained the nickname “terror birds.” This episode, we explore what makes these birds unique, how they varied across their diversity, and what exactly they were doing with all those terrifying tools. In the news: a bitten plesiosaur, wildflower adaptation, a new croc, and dinosaur parents. Time markers:Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00News: 00:06:25Main discussion, Part 1: 00:51:30Main discussion, Part 2: 01:29:30Patron question: 02:30:05 Some helpful links mentioned in the Announcements:The Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ The National Immigrant Justice Center: https://immigrantjustice.org/ Pal Humanity: https://chuffed.org/project/122818-support-north-gaza-rebuilding-lives-restoring-hope-with-pal-humanity?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/ Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0