Argentavis
Group Theropods
Date Late Miocene
Size 3.5m. long
Location Argentina
Argentavis is by far the largest flying bird to have ever lived. It resembled a gigantic condor, with a wingspan of 8m. ; a large specimen would have weighed 80 kg. This is more than double the wingspan and five times the weight of the Andean condor, the largest bird flying today (see panel, left). Argentavis had strong legs and wide feet, so it was able to walk easily. It bill was long with a hooked end, like that of an eagle, so it could rip open almost any carcass. Argentavis was almost certainly a scavenger, searching for carrion as it soared in the air, before larding and driving off other large predators from their kills. This giant of the sky would have had to cover a vast territory to find enough food to sustain itself.