Kelenken, the "Winged Deity," isn't
exactly popular enough to really be 
considered a deity, but at least it
isn't a weird herbivore like 
Gastornis. But perhaps it qualifies 
with its size; at two and a half
meters tall, Kelenken was the
largest of the "terror birds." 
Terror certainly was the right word 
to describe any animal with a 
fierce, hooked beak such as this. 
Incredibly agile and swift, Kelenken 
chased down its prey without mercy. 
It had two possible methods of 
attack: blows from the beak or
picking up and shaking. Blows from 
the beak would shatter bones during
chases, rendering its food immobile 
and so it could administer the final
blow. When picking up its prey, it 
could vigorously shake it until its
back broke, paralyzing it. 

Living in South America during the 
Miocene Period, its large size and 
massive, 28-centimeter-long beak 
made it king of the foothills that
it lived in. These ancient foothills
are what is now the giant Andes 
Mountains. Kelenken roamed these
future mountains using its spectac-
ular beak as a weapon, likely 
chasing down speedy ungulates. It 
was not the only king of the hills,
however; carnivorous mammal
Patagosmilus also prowled this 
land, but it is unknown how their 
niches overlapped.
