There ’s been a breakthrough in the 50,000 - yr - old Great Egg Controversy , as scientists have finally crack the identity of a six - base bird that laid ballock consume by Australia ’s first citizenry . The extinct megafaunaGenyorniswas to thank for the ancient humans ’ feast , from the group of birds forebode the dromornithids or mihirungs which – thanks to theirrelatedness to waterfowland tremendous size – are also know as the “ demon duck of doom . ”
Genyornis , also go by the name “ Thunder Bird , ” stand at two meters ( six foot ) with long legs and astonishingly stubby wing . It ’s think these fowl sashay around Australia in flocks – and though a six - foot demon duck is quite an intimidate candidate , they were believably vegetarians .
Instead , it was we humans who were doing the feeding , as was suspect after burned fragments of ancient eggshells were discovered several long time ago . However , the find of the shells sparked public debate as to which chick laid the egg our ancestors were eating .
Why did it matter ? Because the answer could indicate whether humans had a guilty part to play in the extinction of one of the suspect : Genyornis , who in earlier research was suspected to be the egg layer .
A second nonextant hiss – Progura , or “ jumbo malleefowl ” – was also float as a rival for the egg stratum after research argue that the burn shell ’ shapes and thickness made it a more likely nominee thanGenyornis . These birds were more comparable to a dud , weighing around five to seven kg ( 11 to 15 pound ) .
ossified egg shells were all the authors of a novel paper write inProceedings of the National Academy of Scienceshad to act upon from in decree to discern between the two , but fortunately , these ancient calcium carbonate chick case have fared quite well over the past 50,000 years .
“ Time , temperature and the alchemy of a dodo all dictate how much info we can harvest , ” said aged co - author Prof Matthew Collins from the University of Cambridge ’s Department of Archaeology in astatement .
“ Eggshells are made of mineral crystal that can tightly trap some proteins , preserving this biologic data in the harshest of environments – potentially for millions of years . ”
The only almost complete Genyornis eggshell ever found . Image credit : Gifford H. Miller
While there was no genetic material on the shells to ferment with , the researcher were able to pull proteins from the ancient eggshells and compare them to those of inhabit species . This comparison revealed that whoever laid the eggs evolved beforeProguraemerged , steer toGenyornisinstead .
As for how our ascendent may have tap the species over the edge and into extinguishing , it seems thievery rather than butchery was potential to pick .
“ There is no evidence ofGenyornisbutchery in the archeologic book . However , eggshell fragments with unique burning shape reproducible with human bodily function have been found at dissimilar places across the continent , ” say older co - generator Prof Gifford Miller from the University of Colorado .
“ This imply that the first humans did not necessarily hunt down these tremendous birds , but did routinely foray into nests and steal their giant egg for food . Overexploitation of the ballock by humans may well have bring toGenyornisextinction . ”
Whoops .
