Could This Thing *Really* Fly?

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The Civil War and Reconstruction was a pivotal era in American history.

When a war was fought to save the Union and to free the slaves.

And when the work to rebuild the nation after that war was over, turned into a struggle

to guarantee liberty and justice for all Americans.

I'm Tracy.

And I'm Rich.

And we want to invite you to join us as we take an in-depth look at this pivotal era

in American history.

Look for the Civil War and Reconstruction wherever you find your podcasts.

The Ketzel Koattles, one of the largest terraces that ever lived, was able to fly.

That doesn't sound right.

I mean, look at this thing.

It's the size of a giraffe.

However, giant terraces, I believe, to fly is really well established in the scientific

community.

So, how on earth did this giant manage to fly?

Hi, I'm Ever and this is Me Not Earth.

Thanks to the fossil record, we know that terraces had wings with elongated hand bones,

just like every other flying vertebrate.

But simply having wings doesn't mean you can actually fly.

If you're too heavy for the size of those wings, or if you can't flap them fast enough,

you'll never get anywhere.

And compared to the biggest flying creatures alive today, the Koibostard, or the wandering

albatros, or even the Andean Condor, depending on how you measure it, the Ketzel Koattles

was way, way bigger.

But despite this giant terraces wingspan, scientists estimate that it was only about as heavy

as a large pig.

Now, with a wing-to-mass ratio looking more decent, giant terraces still need to be strong

enough to flap them.

And while wing muscles themselves are not preserved in the fossil record, we know terraces

had huge bumps in their four limb bones and highly modified breast bones with ample attachment

for powerful chest muscles, just like modern flying birds do.

So it's reasonable to believe their wing muscles were pretty brownie.

On top of that, terraces had mostly hollow bones that increased the volume of their respirator

system.

And then, just like modern flying birds, which allow them to deliver tons of oxygen to

all those flight muscles.

All these likely helped the Ketzel Koattles big body stay aloft once it was in the air.

But getting into the air in the first place is the hardest and most energy intensive part

of flight.

Flying birds use their strong leg muscles to launch themselves into the air.

That's why the bigger a bird is, the larger and more powerful it's legs than to be.

Giant terraces were so huge that in order to jump into the air like birds, they would

have needed truly gigantic legs that would have made them definitely too heavy to fly.

So, they solved the whole launching problem in a different way.

They used their powerful wings for the dual purpose of taking off and flopping.

And this strategy is so efficient that bats independently evolved it as well.

By the way, I think this is my favorite fact about giant terraces.

And bats, of course.

Once you look at all the evidence and the facts, it makes perfect sense that these giant

terraces could truly soar.

They might look too big and wonky, but the Ketzel Koattles was about as close as we've

ever come to a flying pig.