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Discovery Channel
features anatomy
professor on “terror
birds”
Lawrence Witmer,
Ph.D., lends
expertise on brains
and senses of
prehistoric beasts
By Richard Heck
Sept. 9, 2009
An anatomy professor
from the Ohio
University College
of Osteopathic
Medicine (OU-COM)
will appear in a
Discovery Channel
six-part series
titled “MegaBeasts.”
Lawrence Witmer,
Ph.D., professor of
biomedical sciences
and Chang Professor
of Paleontology
discusses his
research on “terror
birds”—extinct,
gigantic, flightless
predatory birds—in
the first episode,
which airs Sunday,
Sept. 13, at 9 p.m.
Terror birds evolved
in South America,
but, about four
million years ago,
one giant species
invaded North
America. This
bipedal beast stood
seven feet tall,
weighed 300 pounds
and wielded a deadly
28-inch beak. Terror
birds competed and
likely engaged in
battle with
saber-toothed cats
and prehistoric
wolves.
Each episode of “MegaBeasts”
unfolds like a
detective story,
reviving some of the
largest and most
ferocious creatures
ever to roam the
earth. Through
fossil clues and
modern analogues
(modern animals with
similar physical
traits that may
suggest prehistoric
behavior),
scientists piece
together what these
mysterious creatures
may have looked
like, how they
lived, and what they
ate—as well as what
ate them.
Witmer was tapped
for his research on
the brains, skulls
and sensory organs
of extinct animals
and their modern
descendants. He and
his research team
use computerized
tomography (CT)
scans to render 3-D
images of skulls and
other anatomical
structures at
O’Bleness Memorial
Hospital in Athens.
A second sneak-peek
episode of “MegaBeasts”
will air Sunday at
10 p.m., while the
remaining four
episodes will air
during Discovery
Channel’s upcoming
“Dino December,”
featuring other
all-new dinosaur
specials. At that
time, Witmer will
appear in another
episode of “MegaBeasts,”
discussing the
giant, sail-backed,
predatory dinosaur
Spinosaurus. He also
will appear in
December episodes of
the Discovery series
“Dino Body.”
The Discovery
Channel airs on
channel 40 in the
Athens area on Time
Warner Cable
(channel 762 in HD)
and the Ohio
University Catvision
system, channel 24
on Nelsonville TV
Cable, and channel
29 on Adelphia
Communications cable
system (channel 36
in Albany).
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