Ninja Bird Had It's Own Nunchucks!

Galvasean

A perculiar type of ibis bird that lived in Jamaica some 10,000 years ago had a very interesting adaptation. It's metacarpus ('hand') bones were abnormally big and strong. It is believed that Xenicibis xympithecus (a creature with lovely alliteration in it's name) could use them to fight rivals and predators. It appears to be a unique adaptation with scientists worldwide searching for something similar.

Fossils show that the metacarpus - one of the "hand" bones - was elongated and much bigger than in related species, with very thick walls.

This allowed the wings to function "in combat as a jointed club or flail", the researchers write.

"We don't really know how they would have used these clubs, but we do know that modern ibises grab each other by the beak and pound away with their wings," said Nicholas Longrich, from Yale University in the US.

"And we analysed two bones that had been broken during fighting, including a humerus (upper arm bone) that had been snapped in half - it had started to re-heal, although the two ends hadn't knitted together," he told BBC News.

Read moe here.




Xenicibis xympithecus' wing (top) compared to that of relative Eudocimus albus (bottom).

Adam Khor

This bird deserves to be in Primeval and beat someone up with its wing clubs. :>