Imagine a bird that couldn't fit in your living room because its wings were too big. That's exactly what would happen if you tried to bring the Pelagornis sandersi home -- assuming houses and humans existed back then. Scientists have identified the fossils of what could be the largest flying bird ever found. With an estimated 20- to 24-foot wingspan, the extinct P. sandersi was twice the size of today's biggest flying bird, the royal albatross, according to the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in North Carolina.
The viola is hundreds of years old. In fact, some reports say that it is the oldest of the string family. The viola has been utilized as a harmonic (as opposed to melodic) instrument by composers for hundreds of years. This is the main reason that people are less familiar with it than the violin or cello.
This is because the viola is only a little larger than a violin, and like the violin, the viola is held on the player's left shoulder. It is also because the sound of the viola is only five notes lower than the sound of the violin. The biggest difference between the viola and the violin is the different sound. The viola's lowest string is the C string and its highest string is the A string. So, to see whether a violin-like instrument is a violin or viola, one will need to pluck the thinnest string. The violin's lowest string is the G string and its highest string is the E string.