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Man-eating Pelicans (self.askbiologists)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by TotalFat to c/askbiologists

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How big would a pelican need to be to generally be capable of swallowing grown humans whole? What body changes would we expect to see in such an organism? Thanks in advance for your educated insight. Also sorry for the split infinitive. Just call me Captain Kirk!

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[–] proctonaut 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Such a creature would weigh hundreds of pounds and almost certainly be incapable of flight. I am in no way qualified to answer your question seriously, I'm just a pelican enthusiast.

[–] TotalFat 2 points 8 months ago

That is what I would expect as well. Perhaps the wings would revert to tiny arms and a size roughly the size of a polar bear. Maybe a small carnotaurus type critter but with a proportionately sized pouch in the beak.

[–] spittingimage 2 points 8 months ago

Quetzalcoatlus was a pterosaur rather than a pelican, but I think it shows how big birds could potentially be. 40-foot wingspan.