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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]
The Malagasy crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus mahery), [1] also known as the Madagascar crowned hawk-eagle, is an extinct large bird of prey endemic to Madagascar. It has been proposed that this bird, combined with elephant bird eggs, were the source of sightings of the mythical Roc .
In his landmark publications, such as the Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus used a ranking scale limited to kingdom, class, order, genus, species, and one rank below species. Today, the nomenclature is regulated by the nomenclature codes. There are seven main taxonomic ranks: kingdom, phylum or division, class, order, family, genus, and species.
The largest bird in the fossil record may be the extinct elephant birds (Vorombe/Aepyornis) of Madagascar, which were related to the ostrich. They exceeded 3 m (9.8 ft) in height and 500 kg (1,100 lb) in weight. [44] The last of the elephant birds became extinct approximately 1000 years ago.
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
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.
Dromornis stirtoni is amongst the largest known birds, [12] although Aepyornis maximus, a species of elephant bird from Madagascar, were likely just as heavy, if not heavier. [13] The height of D. stirtoni would probably have met or exceeded the females of the tallest species of the genus Dinornis, the giant moa of New Zealand.