Elephant Bird
Aepyornis maximus
Where was it found?
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Lived in the forests of Madagascar and ventured to coastal sand dunes to lay its eggs.
Diet and foraging method
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Tall so could pick fruit and leaves from trees.
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Key adaptations
Large powerful legs for running and defence.
Reduced wings to allow for more efficient movement on the land, but flightless.
Reduced wings to allow for more efficient movement on the land, but flightless.
Social organisation and mating system
Unknown
Did you know that...?
The mythical creature "the roc" is based on sightings of elephant birds in 1298 by Marco Polo.
Elephant birds were probably the heaviest bird that ever lived, estimated to have a weighed over 1100lbs. Even though it stood ten feet high, it was still not as tall as the extinct Moa birds from New Zealand that were up to 12 feet tall. In comparison, an Ostrich (the largest living bird today) is six feet tall and 300lbs.
Elephant bird eggs are about 160 times the size of a Chicken egg! Fragments can still be found in the southern Madagascar and David Attenborough has his own egg that he put back together from fragments he found.
Elephant birds were probably the heaviest bird that ever lived, estimated to have a weighed over 1100lbs. Even though it stood ten feet high, it was still not as tall as the extinct Moa birds from New Zealand that were up to 12 feet tall. In comparison, an Ostrich (the largest living bird today) is six feet tall and 300lbs.
Elephant bird eggs are about 160 times the size of a Chicken egg! Fragments can still be found in the southern Madagascar and David Attenborough has his own egg that he put back together from fragments he found.
Taxonomy
Sources:
Elephant bird drawing: "Aepyornis maximus 01 L.D." by Acrocynus - Acrocynus. Licenced under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aepyornis_maximus_01_L.D..jpg#/media/File:Aepyornis_maximus_01_L.D..jpg
