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More from *Eurwentala

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:iconbioillustration: #BioIllustration
Art for the sake of Science :icontheistic-evolution: #Theistic-Evolution
Let the Earth bring forth...

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February 11
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:iconeurwentala:
Ground hornbills are strangely human-like. They are long-lived - up to 70 years - and form families consisting of a breeding couple and their offspring. The older siblings help raising the younger, and are actually uncapable of breeding without years of experience as a helper. An average family group only breeds once every three years, and manages to raise a chick to adulthood every nine years, which makes them extremely slow breeders by any standards.

These ground-living birds are capable hunters, killing all kinds of creatures from grasshoppers to hares. They live in the savannahs of Africa, exactly where the family groups of early humans lived, walking around and eating much the same things. They also have a wide field of binocular vision (rare in birds, but again, in common with humans) that allows them to see precisely what they are doing with their beaks.

This picture was earlier a part of Ugly Birds Need Love Too (here: [link]), but I decided it deserves to get coloured. To be exact, this is a male Abyssinian ground hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicum).
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:iconpatrikia-bear:
~Patrikia-Bear Feb 19, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
AWESOME.
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:iconeurwentala:
*Eurwentala Feb 19, 2013
Agreed. :)
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:iconthemorlock:
~TheMorlock Feb 18, 2013  Student General Artist
Fascinating!
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:iconorionide5:
~Orionide5 Feb 15, 2013
Someone should write about the epic war between the big, gentle, powerful, intelligent, slow-innovating sapient hornbills versus the populous, small, clever, violent crow people.
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:iconeurwentala:
*Eurwentala Feb 15, 2013
That's actually a very good idea. I hope someone will. :)
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:iconjuenavei:
=juenavei Feb 13, 2013  Hobbyist Artist
what a beautiful bird, and i like the human-like comparison, very interesting
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:iconallison-beriyani:
*Allison-beriyani Feb 12, 2013
There's a pair of these at my local zoo, and they're one of three animals that make eye and "Talk" back if I talk to them.
The other two are the Bower Bird (he's the most talkative, but the horn bills are more expressive) and the striped hyenas.
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:iconeurwentala:
*Eurwentala Feb 15, 2013
Wow, that's awesome. There's only one zoo with exotic animals in my country, and they don't have ground hornbills (though they do have some other wonderful things). I wish I'll meet them somewhere, though.
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:icondeinonychusempire:
~DeinonychusEmpire Feb 11, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
Holy macaroni...
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:iconjulio-lacerda:
*Julio-Lacerda Feb 11, 2013  Hobbyist Digital Artist
These would be great candidates for a future sapient bird, if anything because of the nice parallels with human evolution.
Although crows would get there first, the bastards.
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