A reverse harpy. My god.
Pffffffffflol
Oh god. My sides. Send help.
What in the hell.
@biologizeable, thoughts?
The apparent arrangement of the internal anatomy here holds up surprisingly well, though we must assume that the resemblance to human anatomy in the limbs of this highly adapted passerine is purely due to an odd coincidence of convergent evolution. Though the purpose of the secondarily lost feathers on forelimbs is unclear (possibly for digging, or, like vultures, to avoid soiling/rotting feathers - further research required), it is obvious that the recovery of the ancestral state of five digits means that something was being manipulated, likely for foraging.
Most importantly, as shown in the second picture, this species is clearly saltatory. Obviously descended from sparrows, a genus that hop rather than walk when on the ground, this “reverse harpy” clearly bounds across the savannahs of the future with gay abandon