elephant bird

(Animals) another name for aepyornis

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Noun

elephant bird - huge (to 9 ft.) extinct flightless bird of Madagascar

aepyornis

flightless bird, ratite, ratite bird - flightless birds having flat breastbones lacking a keel for attachment of flight muscles: ostriches; cassowaries; emus; moas; rheas; kiwis; elephant birds

genus Aepyornis - type genus of the Aepyornidae: elephant birds

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References in periodicals archive

Some pieces of broken eggshell from the extinct elephant bird of Madagascar.

MY LIFE ROSS BARNETT; Inverness-based author Ross Barnett's book, The Missing Lynx: The Past and Future of Britain's Lost Mammals, published by Bloomsbury, is on sale now

The newly-discovered specimen, found in the Taurida Cave on the northern coast of the Black Sea, suggested a bird as giant as the Madagascan elephant bird or New Zealand moa.

Birds three times larger than Ostrich existed in Taurida Cave, finds study

A specimen found at Taurida Cave in Crimea suggests a bird as big as a Madagascan elephant bird or New Zealand moa was hunted by Europeans 1.5 million years ago.

12ft 'ostrich' ruled roost over Europe

For 60 million years the colossal, flightless elephant bird -- Aepyornis maximus -- stalked the savannah and rainforests of Madagascar until it was hunted to extinction around 1,000 years ago.

Ending decades of doubt, 'biggest bird' dispute put to nest

The elephant bird was a 3 meter tall, half ton mammoth of a bird that was a frequent sight on the island of Madagascar.

Who Killed The Elephant Bird?

The eggs showcased range from those of hummingbirds to the extinct elephant bird, and include illustrations of the avian world's smallest and largest eggs demonstrate the variety present in nature.

The Egg

We also learn about the now extinct elephant bird, which was even taller than an ostrich and produced an egg so large you'd need a McMuffin bun the size of a car bonnet to accommodate it.

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ferox), two species of rodents, an extinct pygmy hippopotamus, crocodiles, turtles, and two bird species (including the extinct elephant bird Mullerornis).

Underwater cave proves a treasure trove

Instead, the diminutive kiwi is most closely related to the extinct Madagascan elephant bird -- a 2-3 meter tall, 275 kg giant.

Ancient DNA Ends Aussie Claim to Kiwi Origins

While filming in Madagascar for the programme in 1960, he was given pieces of an egg belonging to the largest bird ever to have lived - the extinct 'elephant bird''.

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