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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]
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]
There are no rules for how many species should make a genus, a family, or any other higher taxon (that is, a taxon in a category above the species level). [52] [53] It should be a natural group (that is, non-artificial, non-polyphyletic), as judged by a biologist, using all the information available to them. Equally ranked higher taxa in ...
Family †Aepyornithidae Bonaparte 1853 (elephant birds) Genus † Aepyornis St. Hilaire 1850 (4 species) † Aepyornis gracilis Monnier 1913 (gracile elephant bird)
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]
Notopalaeognathae is a clade that contains the order Rheiformes (rheas), the clade Novaeratitae (which includes the cassowaries and emus, the kiwis, and the extinct elephant birds), and the clade Dinocrypturi (comprising the tinamous and the extinct moas). [3]
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 ]
The elephant birds of Madagascar †Aepyornithidae - greater elephant birds †Aepyornis. Giant elephant bird, Aepyornis maximus – a 2018 study moved the largest elephant bird specimens to the genus Vorombe, [4] but a 2023 genetic study regarded Vorombe as synonymous with Aepyornis maximus [5] Hildebrandt's elephant bird, Aepyornis hildebrandti