Phorusrhacos was a large prehistoric flightless bird that inhabited South America. In the 1961 adventure fantasy film Mysterious Island, castaways found that the island they crashed on was inhabited by at least one Phorusrhacos.
| Phorusrhacos | |
|---|---|
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Type |
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Status |
Phorusrhacidae |
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Group |
Beasts |
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Habitat |
South America, Nemo's Island in the South Pacific |
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Size |
10ft, however it may have grown larger under Nemo's domestication of the species |
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Diet |
Meat, Feed, Rocks and Bullets(large flightless birds and dinosaurs swallowed Gastroliths, rocks (or bullets) to help with their digestion |
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Behavior |
A large domesticated bird |
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Weaknesses |
Guns, People |
Origin[]
Phorusrhacos was a large prehistoric predatory bird, up to eight feet tall, that inhabited South America. These birds were nicknamed "Terror Birds" because they were one of the largest predatory birds that ever lived. Phorusrhacos' closest living relatives were serima birds, although "Terror Birds" were much larger, and had hooked beaks as well as clawed wings to help them catch prey. Captain Nemo arrived at the mysterious island, he found that Phorusrhacos was still living on the island, and domesticated and bred the beasts, in attempt to end world hunger. However, once the giant birds became out of control, Nemo attempted to kill the birds, however he wasn't able to kill one of the Phorusrhacos, which was killed later.
Description[]
Phorusrhacos had a curved beak for tearing apart its prey and a giant body, making it one of the largest birds to live. Because of its large size, Nemo decided to domesticate the birds in attempt to end world hunger. The Phorusrhacos was incredibly well detailed and scientifically accurate, and is very realistic, in both appearance and movement.
The Phororhacos in its Natural Habitat
Behavior[]
The Phorusrhacos was an aggressive predatory bird, and found humans an easy prey. Although it is unknown whether Nemo domesticated the Phorusrhacos like other large animals in the film, Nemo clearly stated in the film that the Phorusrhacos was extremely aggressive and dangerous, and he tried to kill the bird by shooting it; however, the bird survived. This was probably the Phorusrhacos's first encounter with humans, and after that it wasn't any longer afraid of them. Like any other flightless birds, Phorusrhacos had no natural fear of humans, however, unlike the other giant flightless birds that encountered humans (Dodo, Moa), the Phorusrhacos was an apex predator of its time, and this made it
Phororhacos Attacking it Human Prey
extremely aggressive towards humans. Because of this, the Phorusrhacos was hard to kill, and wasn't afraid of humans at all, until they began to stab it to death. Although Phorusrhacos may have been domesticated, it was a wild predator in its behavior.