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The tops of elephant bird skulls display punctuated marks, which may have been attachment sites for fleshy structures or head feathers. [18] Mullerornis is the smallest of the elephant birds, with a body mass of around 80 kilograms (180 lb), [16] with its skeleton much less robustly built than Aepyornis. [19]
Aepyornis is an extinct genus of elephant bird formerly endemic to Madagascar. The genus had two species, the smaller A. hildebrandti and the larger A. maximus, which is possibly the largest bird ever to have lived. [2] Its closest living relative is the New Zealand kiwi. [3]
Endangered (EN) – Higher risk of extinction in the wild; Vulnerable (VU) – High risk of extinction in the wild; Near threatened (NT) – Likely to become endangered in the near future; Conservation Dependent (CD) – Low risk; is conserved to prevent being near threatened, certain events may lead it to being a higher risk level
Aepyornis maximus, the "elephant bird" of Madagascar, was the heaviest bird ever known. Although shorter than the tallest moa, a large A. maximus could weigh over 400 kilograms (880 lb) and stand up to 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) tall. [18] Accompanying it were three other species of Aepyornis as well as three species of the smaller genus Mullerornis ...
A taxon above the rank of species has a scientific name in one part (a uninominal name). A species has a name typically composed of two parts (a binomial name or binomen): generic name + specific name; for example Canis lupus. Sometimes the name of a subgenus (in parentheses) can be intercalated between the genus name and the specific epithet ...
Genus †Aepyornis St. Hilaire 1850 (4 species) †Aepyornis gracilis Monnier 1913 (gracile elephant bird) †Aepyornis hildebrandti Burckhardt 1893 (Hildebrandt's elephant bird) †Aepyornis maximus St. Hilaire 1851 EX 16th century †Aepyornis medius Milne-Edwards & Grandidier 1866 (medium/greater elephant bird) EX 16th century
Recently it has been determined that the elephant birds of the extinct order Aepyornithiformes were the closest relatives of the kiwis, and therefore are part of this group. [4] The implication is that ratites had lost flight independently in each group, as the elephant birds are the only novaeratites found outside Oceania. [4]
Like other elephant birds and its kiwi relatives, Mullerornis probably was nocturnal based on the small size of its optic lobes, though it shows less optical lobe reduction than these other taxa, implying slightly more crepuscular habits.