Farmers that raise chickens should be glad that they did not have to do so during the reign of the 'Chickens from Hell'. Shrouded in mystery for almost a century, Anzu wyliei was a dinosaur like bird that existed alongside their more famous contemporaries, Tyrannosaurus rex. From Science Daily March 19, 2014: At roughly 11 feet long and five feet tall at the hip, Anzu would have resembled a gigantic flightless bird, more than a 'typical' theropod dinosaur such as T. rex. Its jaws were tipped with a toothless beak, and its head sported a tall, rounded crest similar to that of a cassowary (a large ground bird native to Australia and New Guinea). The neck and hind legs were long and slender, also comparable to a cassowary or ostrich. Although the Anzu specimens preserve only bones, close relatives of this dinosaur have been found with fossilized feathers, strongly suggesting that the new creature was feathered too. The resemblance to birds ends there, however: the forelimbs of Anzu were tipped with large, sharp claws, and the tail was long and robust. Says Dr. Matthew Lamanna, "We jokingly call this thing the 'Chicken from Hell,' and I think that's pretty appropriate. So we named it after Anzu, a bird-like demon in ancient mythology." The three described fossil skeletons of Anzu were unearthed in North and South Dakota, from roughly 66 million-year-old rocks of the Hell Creek Formation, a rock unit celebrated for its abundant fossils of famous dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops. The scientific paper describing the discovery appears today in the freely-accessible journal PLOS ONE. Reference: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. "Nearly complete 'chicken from hell,' from mysterious dinosaur group." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 March 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140319195817.htm>. Farmers would have to build very sturdy hen houses and gather eggs while protected by a suit of armor. Fending off scavengers of the Cretaceous period would also be a daunting task. Of course, North and South Dakota farmers would have bragging rights to the worlds largest 'chicken' Jerry
I am not, repeat NOT, going to tell my girls about this. I have enough problems with their egos. If they found out about "The Chicken from Hell" they would try to out-do it, I'm sure. That's a great article, Jerry. Thanks for taking the trouble to post it. I'm glad I didn't read it just before going to bed--nightmares, you know!
