Terror Birds
The Ancients

Terror Birds

B2Upper-intermediateAugust 23, 202645 min

What kind of predator needs no teeth to terrify its prey? The terror birds were enormous flightless hunters that ruled South America for millions of years, standing metres tall and built for a life of pursuit and slaughter. In this episode, Tristan Hughes is joined by palaeontologist Dr Steve Brusatte to explore the world of the phorusrhacids. What were these extraordinary birds really like? How did they dominate an isolated South America after the extinction of the dinosaurs? And what ultimately brought their predatory reign to an end? MORE Tyrannosaurs Rex<...

Play episode

Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.

Try it: tap any word

Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.

Sentence 1 of 12 · 0:00

?

What secrets lie buried in prehistoric Ireland?

Hear this sentence

Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.

Do you know these words?

8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.

  • B22:22

    Tap for the meaning

  • B210:45

    Tap for the meaning

  • B213:41

    Tap for the meaning

  • B223:21

    Tap for the meaning

  • C125:30

    Tap for the meaning

  • B230:40

    Tap for the meaning

  • C140:34

    Tap for the meaning

  • B241:51

    Tap for the meaning

Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.

Is this episode right for you?

B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 44%A2 34%B1 16%B2 6%C1 1%
  • 93% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 190 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
  • 166 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

Ever wondered why the Romans were defeated in the Teutoburg Forest? What secrets lie buried in prehistoric Ireland? Or what made Alexander truly great? With a subscription to History Hit,

0:11

you can explore our ancient past alongside the world's leading historians and archaeologists. You'll also unlock hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a brand new release every single week covering everything from the ancient world to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com slash subscribe.

0:30

They are the biggest birds to have ever lived. Apex predators that roamed the plains of South America for millions of years. Mega carnivores that followed the dinosaurs. Flightless, yet monstrous.

That was the opening. The rest of the episode (44 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.

Continue in the player

Automatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy