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The coast of Chile, 15 million years ago. It is a time called the Miocene. The Earth is cooling down and is preparing for the upcoming ice ages. Tropical forests are shrinking and are replaced by vast open grasslands, along with many new animals that have evolved for the open plains. The world is starting to become much more recognisable to us modern humans. Animals like cats, camels, seals and rhinos are seen alongside more unusual and ancient animals. The same applies to birds, while almost all modern groups are found in the Miocene, others are no longer around. We will follow one of these birds. He is a large male Osteodontornis. He looks somewhat like a modern albatros or pelican, but isn’t related to either of them. His most striking feature is his serrated beak, aligned with bony outgrows covered in keratin, almost looking like teeth. The second thing is his immense size. He has a wingspan of nearly 6 meters, making him one of the largest birds to ever fly. Normally he lives a