Natural History

Elephant bird

Elephant birds are extinct flightless birds belonging to the order Aepyornithiformes that were native to the island of Madagascar. They are thought to have gone extinct around 1000 AD, likely as a result of human activity. There are three currently recognised species, one in the genus Mullerornis, and two in Aepyornis. Aepyornis maximus is possibly the largest bird to have ever lived, with their eggs being the largest known for any amniote. Elephant birds were herbivores and major components of Madagascar's pre-human ecosystems. Elephant birds are palaeognaths (whose flightless representatives are often known as ratites), and their closest living relatives are kiwi (found only in New Zealand), suggesting that ratites did not diversify by vicariance during the breakup of Gondwana but instead convergently evolved flightlessness from ancestors that dispersed more recently by flying.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Dja Faunal Reserve
• ▸Display (zoology)
• ▸Arctic tern

Uncatalogued shelf

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