Quite a "Head" Line

A while back, the Star Tribune added a small Science & Technology section to its Sunday paper. The stories are generally from wire services and other newspapers, but I usually see at least a few items there I haven't seen elsewhere. This week, it was a Washington Post story with this headline:

Fossils point to ‘giant flying murder head’

Which made me laugh out loud, but it turned out to be a good representation of the story's content.

The fossilized bones of Crydrakon boreas (which means "frozen dragon of the north") were found in Canada's badlands in Alberta. It lived 77 million years ago, growing to 13' tall with a 30' wingspan. And its head was three-and-a-half times as long as its body, thus the giant part of the headline.

As for the murder part: "It had no chewing apparatus, so it would probably eat whatever was small enough to go down its gullet, including lizards, mammals and baby dinosaurs." Essentially, it was a "pair of wings that carry around a big head for guzzling things."

Imagine this creature stooping straight down at you or your babies:


Giant flying murder head might be the most polite thing you would call it, if you had language.