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Life reconstruction of Titanis

Titanis is a genus of Phorusrhacidae, or "terror birds". The extinct family of large, predatory birds originated in South America and inhabited parts of the present-day United States during the Pliocene. Like all phorusrhacids, Titanis had elongated hind limbs, a thin pelvis, proportionally small wings, and a large skull with a hooked beak. Estimates placed Titanis at 1.4 to 2 meters (4.6 to 6.6 ft) in height and over 300 kilograms (660 lb) in body mass. Phorusrhacids are thought to have been ground predators or scavengers, apex predators that dominated Cenozoic South America. They may have swallowed small prey whole or targeted larger prey with repeated strikes of the beak. Titanis likely preyed on mammals such as the extinct armadillo relatives Holmesina and Glyptotherium, equids, tapirs, capybaras, and other Pliocene herbivores. Titanis is unique among phorusrhacids in that it is the only one known from North America, crossing over from South America during the Great American Interchange. (Full article...)

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In the news

Paralympics opening ceremony

The Summer Paralympics open (ceremony pictured) in Paris, France.
More than four hundred people are killed in an Islamist militant attack in Barsalogho Department, Burkina Faso.
The Islamic State claims responsibility for a mass stabbing that killed three people at a festival in Solingen, Germany.
In cycling, Katarzyna Niewiadoma wins the Tour de France Femmes.
Doctors strike and protests occur across India after the rape and murder of a female physician in Kolkata.

On this day

September 5

Squeaky Fromme

1367 – Swa Saw Ke was crowned the ruler of the Kingdom of Ava in Upper Myanmar.
1816 – Facing rising discontent in France, Louis XVIII was forced to dissolve the Chambre introuvable, the legislature dominated by Ultra-royalists.
1887 – A fire that killed 186 people broke out at the Theatre Royal, Exeter, England.
1964 – Hurricane Cleo dissipated after causing 156 deaths, mainly in Haiti, and causing roughly US$187 million in damages across the Caribbean and southeastern United States.
1975 – Squeaky Fromme (pictured), a devotee of Charles Manson, attempted to assassinate U.S. president Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California.

Katharina Zell (d. 1562)
James Innes (d. 1759)
Archie Jackson (b. 1909)
Jean-Chrysostome Weregemere (b. 1919)

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Today's featured picture

The oroblanco (Citrus maxima × C. paradisi) is a sweet seedless citrus hybrid fruit. It was developed as a cross between a diploid acidless pomelo and a seedy white tetraploid grapefruit, resulting in a triploid seedless fruit that is less acidic and less bitter than the grapefruit. The oroblanco was patented by the University of California in 1981 after its development at the university's citrus experiment station by Robert Soost and James W. Cameron. Oroblancos are either round- or oval-shaped with a thicker rind than grapefruit. The fruit is available from September through December and can be peeled and eaten like an orange. A similar fruit named the "sweetie" has been commonly cultivated in Israel since 1984. This photograph shows oroblancos grown in Israel, one whole and one sectioned. The picture was focus-stacked from 12 separate images.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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