Dr. Daniel Ksepka from the Bruce Museum Curator of Science will host the final installment of the Charleston Museum's spring 250th anniversary lecture series – Giants of the Sky: Charleston Museum Fossils Reveal the World's Largest Bird. The event will be held on Wednesday, May 24th from 6 pm to 7 pm.
Pelagornis sandersi was the largest bird ever to fly. With a wingspan of 21 feet, this species was twice the size of the California Condor. A member of the extinct “bony-tooth bird” family Pelagornithidae, Pelagornis sandersi had a beak filled with sharp bony projections called pseudoteeth, ultra-hollow bones, and a bizarre wing shape optimized for gliding.
By chance of fate, the only known skeleton of this species was discovered at The Charleston International Airport in 1983. The bones emerged from sediments laid down 24 million years ago, when present-day Charleston was still submerged by the Atlantic Ocean.
I n his lecture, Dr. Ksepka will present the history of fossil discoveries that shaped our view of pelagornithid birds and ongoing research into their evolution, reproductive biology, and flight patterns.
The event is free, but registration is recommended; register here.
