Elephant birds are extinct flightless birds belonging to the order Aepyornithiformes that were native to the island of Madagascar. They are thought to have become extinct around AD 1000, likely as a result of human activity. Elephant birds comprised three 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 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.
Elephantbirds are extinct flightless birds belonging to the order Aepyornithiformes that were native to the island of Madagascar. They are thought to...
7 ft) and a wingspan of 3.65 m (12.0 ft). The largest bird of all time was likely the elephantbird Aepyornis maximus, which was estimated to have weighed...
"perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephantbirds. Wings...
Horton raise and adopt the elephant-bird (a half elephant calf half bird chick), teaching him about being both an elephant and a bird. Judge Yertle the Turtle:...
Random House. The book tells the story of Horton the Elephant, who is tricked into sitting on a bird's egg while its mother, Mayzie, takes a permanent vacation...
Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African...
(genus Struthio) is the largest of any living bird (being exceeded in size by those of the extinct elephantbird genus Aepyornis). The shell has a long history...
Aepyornis is an extinct genus of elephantbird formerly endemic to Madagascar. The genus had two species, the smaller A. hildebrandti and the larger A...
Aepyornithiformes (elephantbirds), the latter two of which became extinct in the last 1250 years. There are other extinct birds which have been allied...
last of the elephantbirds became extinct about 300 years ago. Of almost exactly the same upper proportions as the largest elephantbirds was Dromornis...
arrived around A.D. 1280. Aepyornis maximus, the "elephantbird" of Madagascar, was the heaviest bird ever known. Although shorter than the tallest moa...
Mullerornis modestus is an extinct species of elephantbird, and the only member of the genus Mullerornis. The genus is named after Georges Muller, a...
(550 lb) according to 2016 estimates. The largest bird in the fossil record may be the extinct Giant elephantbird (Aepyornis maximus) of Madagascar, whose closest...
and Apterygiformes (kiwis). Recently it has been determined that the elephantbirds of the extinct order Aepyornithiformes were the closest relatives of...
living bird,: 130 though the extinct elephantbird and some non-avian dinosaurs laid larger eggs. The bee hummingbird produces the smallest known bird egg...
hawk-eagle, is an extinct large bird of prey endemic to Madagascar. It has been proposed that this bird, combined with elephantbird eggs, were the source of...
Dromornis stirtoni is amongst the largest known birds, although Aepyornis maximus, a species of elephantbird from Madagascar, were likely just as heavy,...
Bird on Your Head! and Are You Ready to Play Outside? received the Geisel Medal in 2008 and 2009. Today I Will Fly! (ranked #2 in 2007) and Elephants...
group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, cassowaries, kiwis and the extinct elephantbirds and moas. There are two...
Cooper, A. (23 May 2014). "Ancient DNA reveals elephantbirds and kiwi are sister taxa and clarifies ratite bird evolution" (PDF). Science. 344 (6186): 898–900...
was one of the tallest-known bird species to walk the Earth, exceeded in weight only by the heavier but shorter elephantbird of Madagascar (also extinct)...
(which includes the cassowaries and emus, the kiwis, and the extinct elephantbirds), and the clade Dinocrypturi (comprising the tinamous and the extinct...
(Central Asia to China) The elephantbirds of Madagascar †Aepyornithidae - greater elephantbirds †Aepyornis Giant elephantbird, Aepyornis maximus - A 2018...
dinosaur. It lays the largest eggs of any living bird (the extinct giant elephantbird (Aepyornis maximus) of Madagascar and the south island giant moa (Dinornis...
extinction of the elephantbird is attributed to human activity. The birds were once widespread, but deforestation and the hunting of the bird's eggs led to...
Global Information
