Talk:Bullockornis

common name
compare http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_duck_of_doom. something can't be right here. are both birds called "demon duck..."
 * Both birds, Dromornis stirtoni and Bullockornis planei, take the title of demon ducks. This is a colloquial name and not an official name. I don't want to argue taxonomic placement but the similarities they share are also what gives them their colloquial name.

Large bodied, large beaked birds, possibly carnivorous and are believed to be related to Anseriformes. The common name "Terror Ducks" may be related to Terror Birds and similar large bird fossils and may have occurred as a result of comparing the birds. Such comparisons can be found on this page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.45.163.212 (talk) 11:27, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

Uncited text
I removed this text added by users Aprilisganda and Cjbea, and reverted to the version before they started adding contednt because there is not actual referencing in the expanded text, the two contributors only editied this page, and the unferenced tag has not generated any talk. If the below text can be verifiably sourced and the peacock wording fixed then it can be moved back to the article page. --Kevmin (talk) 13:59, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Bullockornis, nicknamed the Demon Duck of Doom, is an extinct flightless bird that appeared to have lived in the Middle Miocene, approximately 12 to 15 million years ago, in what is now Australia. Scientists dubbed this large member of the Dromornithidea family, more commonly referred to as "Thunder Birds" or "Terror Birds", with its alliterative title due to the fact that its closest living relatives are waterfowl. Many paleontologists, including Peter Murray of the Central Australian Museum, believe that Bullockornis was related to geese and ducks. This, in addition to the bird's tremendous size and possible carnivorous habits, gave rise to its colourful nickname. Bullockornis planei was unique to Australia as far as the fossil record indicates. It's enormous size and formidable arsenal of a giant powerful beak and muscle bound legs allowed Bullockornis to evolve into one of Australia's top predators along with fanged kangaroos and possums to fill the niche previously occupied by dinosaurs. The bird's generic name is translated as "ox-bird." The bird had many traits of the quite distantly related terror birds and Gastornids, an example of parallel and convergent evolution.

Bullockornis stood approximately 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) tall. It may have weighed up to 250 kg (550 lb) making it one of the largest birds to have ever lived. This immense stature meant that Bullockornis towered above most living creatures of its time. Features of Bullockornis's skull, including a very large beak suited to shearing, and a relatively large size in comparison to its body indicate that the bird may have been carnivorous. The bird's skull is larger than that of many small horses. From this scientists are able to deduce possible diets the "Demon Duck" may have eaten. The sharp edges of the beak and its orientation when opening and closing are consistent with that of other species of carnivorous birds. The foremost section of the beak was suited for biting, holding and manipulating. The concave section that made up the middle of the beak was used for shearing and crushing. The third section which was the furthest back was thicker in terms of bite surface area and used for crushing and shearing larger objects. Dimensions of a Bullockornis skull also hint at predatory behavior; since birds are unable to chew they must swallow food whole thus necessitating a larger skull. There aare scientists that believe that Bullockornis may have developed such a beak and skull in order to crush large seeds and other types of fruits. Long, well muscled legs made it easy for Bullockornis to chase down potential prey as well as defend itself from any would be attackers. Bullockornis planei had small wings that were much to small for flight. They made up for this however with a long neck that was most likely very well articulated. The sum of all these features presented an animal that would be fully capable of hunting effectively as well as scavenging since there were few competitors that stand against a hungry Bullockornis. However, it also could be attributed to an animal that needed to be able to avoid predation from the numerous large carnivores of the Miocene Australian outback. This all having been said there is no definitive evidence to prove whether Bullockornis was a carnivore or herbivore. It is becoming more widely accepted however that these birds were most likely omnivorous.

Bullockornis Planei helped change the minds of several scientist on their perspective of thunder birds. Previously this large group of birds was thought to be comprised of herbivors but the discovery of a nearly complete Bullockornis planei skull, along with other Dromornithians is painting a better picture of their true nature. These skulls are also very important because until their discovery the Thunder Birds were know by recovered long bones, which were usually leg bones. Another interesting feature of Bullockornis is that it did not have a keel like most modern birds due to the fact that they had no need for the extra surface area for the attachment of flight muscles. Instead, they had a sternum, a characteristic still present in today's extant ratites (flightless birds such as ostrich, emu, and rea). The bones of Bullockornis also differed from those of most modern birds in the fact that they relatively sturdy in comparison to the "hollow" bones birds a known for. This was because of the fact that Bullockornis needed to support its large size and weight, and be able out run, contend with, and/or over power the other species of Australian megafauna it encountered.

The reason behind the extinction of Bullockornis planei, an the rest of Australia's large terrestrial animals is still a mystery. Animals such as fanged possums, giant monitor lizards, and marsupial lions all seemly died out around the same period of time. One hypothesis is that a large asteroid struck the earth. This hypothesis is supported by the Nördlinger Ries crater which is located in southwestern Germany, and has been dated to the time that coinsides with the extinction of numerous species of the era. There are also many researchers who point to volcanic eruption as a possible culprit in the demise of Bullockornis and its contemporaries. The Rift Valley in East Africa produced copious amounts of volcanic ash that could have potentially altered Earth's climate. Still others point to the arrival of man marking the end of the reign of Bullockornis. Fossils show that Bullockornis lived up until around 50,000 years ago and therefore encounters with man were definitely possible. Pit against a formidable adversary it was not accustomed to it may have been hunted to extinction. The encroaching habits of the human race may have disrupted the environment and caused one of the links in the food chain to be broken, throwing of the delicate balance of life. Humans may simply have out competed the magestic thunder bird for food and habitat.

Whatever the case may be, the Demon Duck of Doom was and impressive avian specimen. It may have been a docile plant eater plucking branches off trees to dine on the sweet fruits and nuts they bore, or a voracious predator that ruled the Australian outback and commanded fear and respect from all animals that called it home. Undoubtedly, much more can still be learned about this interesting prehistoric bird species.


 * Rich, P. (1979): The Dromornithidae, an extinct family of large ground birds endemic to Australia. Bureau of National Resources, Geology and Geophysics Bulletin 184: 1–196.

Very galliform
The skull is very like a pukeko. Beak therefore for shearing water plants. I wonder if the colouring was similar, as galliforms worldwide tend to be similar.

Requested move 4 May 2021

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: no consensus. The actual result would be moved as an unopposed request, but since there seems to be consensus to merge this article into Dromornis on Talk:Dromornis (permalink), closing this as moved would be pointless. In the unlikely event that the consensus changes over there, please notify me. (closed by non-admin page mover) ~ Aseleste  (t, e &#124; c, l) 07:04, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

Bullockornis → Dromornis planei – name change accepted by authorities, uncontroversial move in that sense, however, this page is also being proposed for merging. I don't see it affecting the merge discussion which title it is under. ~ cygnis insignis 17:59, 4 May 2021 (UTC) —Relisting. ~ Aseleste  (t, e &#124; c, l) 02:51, 13 May 2021 (UTC)
 * That combination is already a redirect, so a move will be redundant if it is merged anyway. FunkMonk (talk) 18:57, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
 * See merge discussion at talk:Dromornis, which should supersede this move request.-- Kev min  § 20:49, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.