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Monday, January 12, 2009

Science Today in Feces/New Favorite Bird of the Day

Posted by on Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 4:27 PM

GIANTPOOP.jpgGiant birds went camping, pooped all over New Zealand, science claims:

Giant birds camping out in caves and rock shelters thousands of years ago left behind enormous feces, reaching nearly half a foot in length. The preserved poop reveals what the now-extinct birds munched on so long ago.

The fossilized feces — more than 1,500 pieces — were discovered beneath cave floors and rock shelters in remote areas across southern New Zealand. The feces primarily came from species of the extinct giant moa, flightless birds that weighed up to 550 pounds (250 kg) and stood at nearly 10 feet (three meters).

"Surprisingly for such large birds, over half the plants we detected in the feces were under 30 centimeters (1 foot) in height," said study researcher Jamie Wood of the University of Otago in New Zealand. "This suggests that some moa grazed on tiny herbs, in contrast to the current view of them as mainly shrub and tree browsers."

"When animals shelter in caves and rock shelters, they leave feces which can survive for thousands of years if dried out," said study researcher Alan Cooper of the University of Adelaide in Australia. "Given the arid conditions, Australia should probably have similar deposits from the extinct giant marsupials. A key question for us is, 'Where has all the Australian poo gone?'"

 

Comments (13) RSS

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1
Fuck yah, Moa's rule!


No, really, I fucking love giant flightless fucking birds. I wish they were still around. I'd ride one of those fuckers and learn how to joust!


Let's get some DNA of one and clone that fucking thing! It's on!

Posted by Matt Fuckin' Hickey on January 12, 2009 at 4:32 PM
2
I'm pretty sure this will always be my favorite bird: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kBg_LxS9…

I would definitely let that bird have its way with me.
Posted by swoon on January 12, 2009 at 4:32 PM
3
I don't know where the Australian poo went, but I know they've found tons of giant sloth excrement in caves of the American southwest, as well as Columbian mammoth dung. And there was that 14,000 year old paleoindian turd from Oregon.
Posted by Paleo Poo on January 12, 2009 at 4:36 PM
4
Probably into the belly of some kind of Australian cave-dwelling, giant-bird-poop-eating marmot.
Posted by Greg on January 12, 2009 at 4:38 PM
5
Giant flightless birds scare me. Cassowaries, relatives of moa, are among the most dangerous animals on earth, vicious, aggressive, lightning quick and with a lethal kick.

Not that I'm glad the Maori wiped the moa out or anything.
Posted by Fnarf on January 12, 2009 at 4:42 PM
6
Since when is poop of half a foot in length classified as giant?

I regularly poo poop 6 inches or longer in length (That maybe because I poo ince in 3-4 days).
Posted by GiantPoo on January 12, 2009 at 4:47 PM
7
burnt for fuel by the australian aboriginies?
Posted by Max Solomon on January 12, 2009 at 5:11 PM
8
Flightless birds are fucked up because a) their heads are skinnier than their necks b) they can outrun you and maneuver through stuff you can't (especially considering that they don't have arms), c) when they're lurking, you can't see them and hear them at the same time, and when you can it's too late, and d) they can git you and git you and git you. Cassowaries? I hope I never err into their domain ever.
Posted by Lloyd Clydesdale on January 12, 2009 at 5:49 PM
9
This adds support to my theory that fossilized, foot-long feces were used by cavemen as the original foot-stools.
Posted by Rain Monkey on January 12, 2009 at 6:19 PM
10
Where has all the Australian poo gone?
Long time, passing....
Posted by eclexia on January 13, 2009 at 12:00 AM
11
Did it taste like chicken? The bird that is not the poop.
Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on January 13, 2009 at 6:46 AM
12
A cautionary tale. One of many that provide evidence of man's destructive attitude toward other living things and this beautiful and precious world.
Posted by Vince on January 13, 2009 at 7:14 AM
13
@6,

I'm hoping that you estimated the size and didn't actually use a ruler.
Posted by keshmeshi on January 13, 2009 at 11:34 AM

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