Ephippitavis

Information
Ephippitavis figidus is a large, carnivorous species of bird within the genus Ephippitavis, descending from the Old World vultures. She is in a lineage of birds that uses its wings to both walk and fly. The elbow has a section of padding, helping support the bird's immense weight that is used to insulate from the everlasting cold of Northern Africa. It coexists with Anarctos macrognathus in the New Pleistocene.

The Giant Padded Vulture (Ephippitavis meaning "Padded Bird" and figidus meaning "Cold") is a large avian scavenger that patrols the snowy plains of temperate Afroeurasia 47 million years AD in search of fresh carrion from the animals that perish in the cold of the New Pleistocene. The Giant Padded Vulture is descended from the Griffon Vulture which lived in Europe and survived the Holocene extinction. Since then, the lineage of scavengers that lead to this bird have developed a fleshy padding connected to the elbow bones of the wing, allowing the Giant Padded Vulture and its relatives to support their weight on all fours while still being capable of flight. The species featured here has a wingspan up to 30 feet and uses its large size as a heat insulation method to withstand the everlasting colds of its time.

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