Aepyornis, Madagascar's elephant bird
Aepyornis, el ave elefante de Madagascar
- Date
- 1851 · confidence high
- Place
- Southern Madagascar, Madagascar
- Credited to
- Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
An extinct flightless bird up to 3 m tall and about 500 kg, described scientifically from eggs and bones from Madagascar. Its eggs are the largest known of any bird.
Étienne de Flacourt already mentioned a giant bird in 1658; Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire named it in 1851 after receiving the eggs from a French sailor in 1850. It went extinct between the 13th and 17th centuries, depending on the authors.
What it led to
- awareness of Madagascar's extinct megafauna and its loss after human settlement
- origin of the roc legend
- debate on the anthropogenic extinction of giant birds