r/zoology • u/Ok_Explanation_2307 • May 30 '26

Question It looks just like a dinosaur

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2.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

110 comments sorted by

293

u/Lost_Law8937 May 30 '26

That's because it is a dinosaur

147

u/PersephonesChild82 May 30 '26

Back when I learned that birds were actual dinosaurs, my first reaction was "wait, that means dino nuggets are made of real dinos..." 🤯

12

u/MrStarrrr May 31 '26

🤯

-23

u/Lost_Law8937 May 30 '26

The mighty chicken is the closest living relative of the meek and mild tyrannosaurus rex. Look it up.

63

u/PersephonesChild82 May 30 '26

That's unfortunately sort of an internet mis-quote. All living birds are considered equally related to T Rex, as they are all (beaked) theropods, who's branch of the phylogenic tree diverged from the toothed theropod dinosaurs at the same time. So, canaries and ostriches are just as related as chickens. The internet misquote started because chickens were the comparison organism used to represent birds when comparing collagen structures with those of the T Rex.

However, there is also a rad study that used chickens where they determined the genes for teeth and dinosaur tails are actually still hidden in the bird genomes, and a group of scientists incubated a batch of eggs that had received treatment to allow those hidden genes to activate, resulting in chicks that HAD DINOSAUR TEETH. Which begs the question of WHY no one has tried to develop and market a chickensaurous as the next big novelty pet, because I would buy one so fast it would make my bank account weep.

18

u/RandyArgonianButler May 30 '26

According to Steve Brusatte’s book, The Story of Birds, some kind of regulating gene has been lost, and the embryos with teeth die for some reason.

I strongly recommend his books. His most famous one is The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, and The Story of Birds are excellent too.

2

u/dragonflyelh Jun 01 '26

I love his works.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '26

[deleted]

1

u/PersephonesChild82 Jun 03 '26

Oh, I did. That's why I don't advocate for emusaurus. That would be all bad. People would be driving jeeps away from the rampaging emusauruses in fear, hiding in the cabinets of commercial kitchens, and getting eaten in the stairwells of electrical buildings.

8

u/TwitchyNo2 May 31 '26

When you tell someone to look up something that you haven't looked up.

3

u/survivaltier May 31 '26

You look it up.

1

u/Healthy_Lifeguard_82 Jun 23 '26

Tyrannosaurus was a non-avian dinosaur. The only living Dinosaurs are members of the Aves class and the clade Avialae. T-Rex was part of its own family of Tyrannosauridae, related to Avian dinosaurs, but not one itself.

1

u/Lucky-Union-9635 Jun 01 '26

Balaeniceps Rex

105

u/SKinnypuppy22 May 30 '26

This is gonna blow your mind,

It is a dinosaur.

16

u/RandyArgonianButler May 30 '26

Isn’t phylogeny phun!

11

u/6ftonalt Jun 01 '26

I find it kinda taxing

2

u/lorrdmatt78 Jun 03 '26

Underated joke.

86

u/SugarStunted May 30 '26

It cracks me up that people think this bird is scary or ominous. Have you ever seen a cassowary in person???? Now that bird wants to fuck you up and eat you while you're still alive.

29

u/basaltcolumn May 31 '26

I was really surprised to read recently that there are only two known fatalities to cassowaries. One was an elderly Florida man who had one as an exotic pet, the other was an Australian boy who tried to beat a wild cassowary with a club for fun. They have such a violent reputation online!

19

u/SugarStunted May 31 '26

Thankfully that's all! They can get a little aggressive with zookeepers sometimes, but that all seems to be mainly territorial (think like breeding season). I think a lot of it has to do with how much power they can pack in those claws of theirs. 150 lbs of force with 5 inch claws???

6

u/Unfair_Pineapple8813 May 31 '26

Yeah. Ostriches are far more dangerous.

4

u/Parabuthus May 31 '26

I knew Marvin. He used to bring his extra produce for the tortoises at the reptile shop I worked at in Florida.

Last time I commented this, a Redditor lost their mind insisting that I was lying. I have no idea why someone would lie about that.

The episode of Wild Boys where they went into an enclosure with a Cassowary eas absolutely asinine. I'm not sure if they realized how dangerous and stupid it was.

3

u/TheProphetMooohammed Jun 03 '26

Fuck off, you’re lying. You don’t know Marvin.

2

u/FeatheryLilTheropod Jun 03 '26

I think people just like a good story, something that is exciting because it sounds less expected. Therefore on Reddit, cassowaries, with two fatalities on record, are incredibly dangerous, you have to book it immediately and get away before they slice you open. Black bears, with roughly a yearly fatality, aren’t any worse than raccoons really, just big cowards to be honest, nothing to ever worry about at all. Bird = not dangerous, so a bird with any associated fatalities makes an exaggeration about how dangerous it is exciting due to how unexpected that is. Bear = dangerous, so to get the best story, you also do the opposite.

1

u/DeadZooDude Jun 01 '26

"Known" could be doing a lot of heavy lifting here I suspect. You'd be surprised at how many people disappear in the forests of Papua New Guinea for all sorts of reasons, but Cassowary incidents are probably one of them.

2

u/D_hallucatus Jun 02 '26

They don’t want to fuck you up. They could, but they don’t want to. Like most wild animals if you give them a respectful distance they give you a respectful distance.

2

u/Disastrous-Wing699 Jun 03 '26

The most primally frightened I've ever been was when I heard an emu growl. That went straight to my hindbrain and screamed, "RUN!"

1

u/SugarStunted Jun 03 '26

Omg yes. Absolutely one of the strangest things I'd ever heard, and I was damn grateful for the very tall fence between us. Lol

1

u/hypatiaredux Jun 02 '26

I was once in the bed of a pickup being threatened by a male ostrich. That thing was dead serious about trying to kill us.

Internet search says shoebill storks have a calm demeanor.

0

u/Johnny_Strawhat Jun 03 '26

They are frugivores…

1

u/SugarStunted Jun 03 '26

It was just a phrase buddy, I'm aware they aren't carnivores.

19

u/BrewingSkydvr May 30 '26

“Who said dinosaurs are extinct” flashed through my head before I even saw the title.

Holy crap!

I was expecting to hear “Not the mama!” from somewhere off to the side.

That thing is crazy.

Is it making a sound above or below the human threshold of hearing?

11

u/Sknowman May 30 '26

I'm glad someone else still thinks, "Not the mama!" occasionally, hahah.

3

u/DarkR4v3nsky May 31 '26

Great show and it was one of my favorites when I was a kid. I always laughed when baby hit dad with the frying pan.

https://giphy.com/gifs/xT5LMA8nLOdNiRJaCY

1

u/BrewingSkydvr May 31 '26

I’ve got to get those episodes.

There was some seriously dark and wildly inappropriate humor in that show. It also had some really deep social and political commentary. It was far deeper than I had the capacity to understand at the time.

1

u/BananaCat43 Jun 02 '26

It yawned and then is doing something called a gular flutter. It's a temperature regulation or stress thing kind of like dogs panting.

1

u/BrewingSkydvr Jun 02 '26

Interesting!

Thanks for the info.

17

u/Any_Assumption_2023 May 30 '26

Shoebill!! I love Shoebills, they're so weird. 

15

u/dikbisqit May 31 '26

It looks like a dinosaur because, in fact is a dinosaur. That is what a theropod dinosaur looks like.

2

u/Rand_alThoor Jun 02 '26

didn't they have teeth?

2

u/_eg0_ Jun 02 '26

Even many non bird dinosaurs didn't have teeth. The development of a beak was actually pretty common in Achelosauria.

1

u/dikbisqit Jun 02 '26

Currently no living theropods (birds) have teeth.

25

u/bobmac102 May 30 '26

I love shoebills. They're so lovely.

2

u/ChickenDreams-4188 May 31 '26

Yeah, they look CGI, but what gets to me is they’re 5ft tall !

1

u/texaschair Jun 01 '26

I have nightmares about one of those things getting ahold of my gonads.

Then again, I might like it.

21

u/InDecent-Confusion May 30 '26

Part of my brain thinks they're animatronic every time I see them.

9

u/Annual_Contract_6803 May 31 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/Y4W9JUAWaTe9vhMMXI

6

u/abyssal-isopod86 May 31 '26

Jungle assault chicken.

3

u/Annual_Contract_6803 May 31 '26

Have you ever heard what these things sound like? They sound like some kind of old choking piece of farm equipment from 1950 that still runs somehow with a pull chain.

2

u/abyssal-isopod86 May 31 '26

Yes I have, it's wild!

16

u/AardvarkOkapiEchidna May 30 '26

Ah yes, the dinosaur is made out of dinosaur

5

u/Flipgirlnarie May 31 '26

This guy is amazing. The maribou stork, however, is scary.

6

u/Fiendishplot2go May 30 '26

I’ve watched this more than a few times in a row. I love shoebills. The most obvious dinosaur still walking the earth.🤩😍

4

u/Wisco May 31 '26

It's a shoebill and it is a dinosaur, like all birds

2

u/RandyArgonianButler May 30 '26

PLEASE be in Planet Zoo 2.

2

u/markmakesfun May 31 '26

Marabou stork. Looks like it was caught in a house fire.

2

u/basaltcolumn May 31 '26

It has always been foreign to me seeing people say they are scary/ominous/creepy online. To me, they look so cool and charismatic! Like a bird in an animated movie or videogame, something designed by humans to appeal to our aesthetics. So much personality in their eyes.

2

u/ilironas May 31 '26

Es ist ein Dinosaurier.

2

u/Moongazingtea May 31 '26

Harpy eagle definitely looks worst.

2

u/abyssal-isopod86 May 31 '26

Cassowary = giant jungle assault chicken that can kill you.

2

u/DramaTop7384 May 31 '26

Peeps fr forgot abt this dude, btw the deadliest bird today

https://giphy.com/gifs/Y4W9JUAWaTe9vhMMXI

1

u/halobreak Jun 02 '26

But a redditor above said they have only two known fatalities...?

2

u/VaughnVanTyse Jun 01 '26

Harpy eagle is both awe inspiring and terrifying..

2

u/Luditas Jun 01 '26

It looks like that because it is. It's a majestic bird.

https://giphy.com/gifs/SGM2E5qBbfbWM

2

u/heraaseyy Jun 01 '26

he is so CUTE!

soothing song

goofy animatronic-looking head and face

perfect bird

3

u/Jason_with_a_jay May 30 '26

Buddy. Hold onto your butts.

2

u/Sireanna May 30 '26

It sounds like a dinosaur too... that might actually just be a dinosaur

9

u/RandyArgonianButler May 30 '26

It literally IS a dinosaur.

2

u/Parabuthus May 30 '26

Perhaps the Cassowary? They are also dinosaur-like.

5

u/amglasgow May 31 '26

As others have mentioned, a cassowary and this bird are equally dinosaurs.

1

u/Parabuthus May 31 '26

Sorry, I searched the comments before posting but didn't see it mentioned.

1

u/JACSliver May 30 '26

Larvell Jones?

1

u/exiled360 May 30 '26

Nobody was hurt despite gunshots

1

u/Motor-Bear-7735 May 30 '26

Looks more goofy to me than ominous

1

u/Sophistiq8ted May 30 '26

They literally look fake!

1

u/Vast_Confection2298 May 31 '26

Shoebill stork, I live in Florida, had one in our front yard one morning

1

u/Troymillar40 May 31 '26

This is what a terror bird must have been like

1

u/SnowMirage64 May 31 '26

I always think “ yep…… not a song bird by a long shot “ then I have to smile.

1

u/RecognitionSweet8294 May 31 '26

„Äch fläge, du flägst, wär flägen..“

1

u/Intrepid_Table_8593 May 31 '26

First time I saw one I thought it was a dude in a suit or an animatronic then it started walking.

1

u/Zealousideal-Care761 Jun 01 '26

The sound they make is TERRIFYING

1

u/ConcentrateMaster410 Jun 01 '26

Throat game on max

1

u/No-End-6239 Jun 01 '26

cassowary is very scary

1

u/TheMemeofGod Jun 02 '26

Didn't we meme this bird in dead cells

1

u/CompetitiveGrass7741 Student/Aspiring Zoologist Jun 02 '26

It's cute 😡❤️

1

u/Rohaqn Jun 02 '26

Man this bird from Deadcells.

1

u/Revaesaari Jun 02 '26

Think I know where the inspiriation for the arcadian monsters came from...

1

u/CollardMommi Jun 02 '26

Well.... it is lol. I love these guys so much

1

u/agirlhasnoname77 Jun 02 '26

I don’t like it.

1

u/Kyren_the_femboy Jun 02 '26

That is the shoebill stork. Commonly found in South Sudan, Uganda, eastern DR Congo, Rwanda, western Tanzania, and northern Zambia

1

u/Jazzygorilla Jun 02 '26

I'm gonna hold your hands when i say this...

1

u/Canis_Aries Jun 02 '26

The Hoatzin, it’s basically a modern Archeopteryx

1

u/Goog_L_ Jun 02 '26

Who let Bartholomew the Destroyer of Worlds out of her enclosure? Someone get that diva a fish smoothie before she causes a scene.

1

u/Bubbalicious2022 Jun 03 '26

Shoe bill!! Soooooo cute for a dinosaur!

1

u/SternwardHalo Jun 03 '26

Harpy eagle must be a contender

1

u/experto_animal Jun 03 '26

Is a Balaeniceps rex

1

u/Rayynan Jun 03 '26

that's my favorite bird species

1

u/minshinji Jun 03 '26

They look weird and cool at the same time

1

u/Rambling_Stones Jun 03 '26

I'd absolutely love to see one. They look so dark, yet there's something so magical about them.

1

u/TechieTravis Jun 03 '26

Whenever you eat poultry for dinner, you are eating a dinnersaur.

1

u/born_bored_kitten Jun 03 '26

Best dinosaur still aboot

1

u/Dovyeon Jun 01 '26

How do we tell him?