It almost sounds like something conjured by the same movie producers responsible for such TV and wide-screen creatures as Mega Shark, Crocosaurus, Gatoroid and the ever-memorable, or not, Sharktopus.

Soaring above the world's oceans about 25 million years ago was what researchers now think was the largest seabird to ever take to the marine skies, a Mega Gull, if you will.

Known as Pelagornis sandersi within scientific circles, the ancient bird belonged to a long-since extinct species with teeth and sported a 21-foot wingspan -- which dwarfs the 11.5-foot span of today's biggest flier, the royal albatross, and rivals that of the largest flying bird ever known, the South American condor, Argentavis magnificens, which used its 23-foot wingspan to soar over the mountaintops of the Andes an estimated six million years ago.

Described for the first time only recently in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the fossil remains of the gargantuan creature were discovered back in 1983, close to an airport in Charleston, South Carolina, according to a report by National Geographic.

"A giant bird lands at an airport, 25 million years too soon -- it's kind of amusing," study author Daniel Ksepka of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, said in a news release. "Maybe he should have just waited and landed on the new runway."

Of particular note is that the finding the prehistoric seabird may have been able to glide just above the ocean waves for long distances, not having to ride ascending air currents to maintain altitude, as contemporary large birds often must do.

Checking in at an estimated 48 pounds, Pelagornis sandersi was not even as as heavy as a flightless ostrich, which can weigh up to 300 or so pounds, but was likely still too heavy, especially with the tiny feet it apparently had, to run on top of the water and take off like a goose or other waterfowl.

"I think they just waited on the beach for a strong wind to carry them aloft," Ksepka said.

The bones of the Pelagornis sandersi, the name of which honors Charleston Museum curator Albert Sanders, who uncovered the bird's skull, wing and leg bones ahead of runway construction three decades ago, were found in a stretch of land scientists believe was at one time submerged more than 33 feet under ocean water.

The bird's "teeth," as Ksepka and his colleagues call them, were actually bony projections from the beak, which seemed helpful in spearing prey, which may have included other birds.

Such toothed birds thrived from 55 million to 3 million years ago, before falling victim to reasons unknown.

"I would have loved to see one of them flying today," said Ksepka.