Aepyornis maximus
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Aepyornis Temporal range: Quaternary |
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| Aepyornis maximus skeleton and egg | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Superorder: | Paleognathae |
| Order: |
†Aepyornithiformes A. Newton |
| Family: |
†Aepyornithidae (Bonaparte 1853) |
| Genus: |
†Aepyornis I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire |
| Species | |
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Aepyornis gracilis |
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Aepyornis gracilis
Monnier 1913
Aepyornis hildebrandti
Burckhardt 1893
Aepyornis maximus
I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1851
Aepyornis medius
Milne-Edwards & Grandidier 1866
Aepyornis is a genus of aepyornithid, one of two genera of ratite birds endemic to Madagascar known as elephant birds. The species A. maximus weighed up to 400 kilograms (880 lb), and was the world's largest bird until its extinction, about 1000 years ago.
Four species are usually accepted in the genus Aepyornis today; A. hildebrandti, A. gracilis, A. medius and A. maximus, but the validity of some is disputed, with some authors treating them all in just one species, A. maximus.
Like the cassowary, ostrich, rhea, emu and kiwi, Aepyornis was a ratite; it could not fly, and its breast bone had no keel. Because Madagascar and Africa separated before the ratite lineage arose,Aepyornis has been thought to have dispersed and become flightless and gigantic in situ. More recently, it has been deduced from DNA sequence comparisons that the closest living relatives of elephant birds are New Zealand kiwis, indicating that the ancestors of elephant birds dispersed to Madagascar from Australasia.
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Wikipedia