Location: La Brea Tar Pits, 5801 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Date:
Meet Teratorn, The Largest Bird Found at La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, CA
The teratorn was undoubtedly big, but was it a big vulture or something else?
A shadow passes over you, and you briefly wonder, ‘Is it a plane?’ But this is Pleistocene Los Angeles, and the largest bird in the sky is the teratorn, which translates to “wonder bird”. Look closer. Is the head pink? We’re still wondering.
Were these large birds bald or not???
In a prehistoric era filled with mammoths and mastodons on land, Merriam’s teratorn (Teratornis merriami, commonly referred to as teratorn) was a colossal presence in the sky, approximately one-third larger than the California condor—the largest contemporary bird in the area. The teratorn featured a wingspan reaching up to 12 feet and possessed a formidable hooked beak atop a body resembling that of a condor. For many years following its identification in 1909, paleontologists and paleoartists who resurrected these enormous birds envisioned the teratorn as akin to a giant vulture. However, later investigations at La Brea Tar Pits and other locations have provided a different interpretation of this renowned bird from the Tar Pits.
Renowned paleoartist Charles Knight illustrated teratorns as dark-feathered, bald-headed scavengers reminiscent of turkey vultures and California condors, whose naked skulls assist them in maintaining cleanliness while foraging through decaying remains.
Their relatively robust, short legs and talons indicated that teratorns were unable to seize prey mid-flight but could stabilize themselves against a large deceased animal (or sticky asphalt) to tear off pieces of flesh. With their remarkable wingspans—ideal for soaring—and their hooked beaks—suitable for ripping flesh from sizable carcasses—it is easy to envision teratorns adopting a vulture-like lifestyle: detecting the scent of decay in the air and subsequently landing on the asphalt to feast on a delectable rotting bison, only to discover they are ensnared.
Whether they had striking plumage or bald heads remains obscured by the viscous asphalt of time, but subsequent studies have complicated the portrayal of the teratorn as a giant vulture.
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