39 Votes in Poll
32 Votes in Poll
Painful (me especially) i know, but hey at least we are starting to get a better understanding of elephant birds in general
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36405-3
Opening Paleo Exhibit: Aepyornis
Aepyornis was a genus Aepyornithid birds and is one of the three species of Elephant birds endemic to Madagascar in the Quaternary period, 2 million years ago to 1000 AD from the Pleistocene to the Holocene ages. It is thought that early settlers first encountered this bird about 2,500-4,000 years ago. Fossil remains have been known since the 19th century, and the first full description was made by French zoologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Aepyornis means "High Bird", it was named so because of its height. There's currently 2 valid species but some argue there's 4, the type species, Aepyornis maximus, means "Greatest High Bird" and the other species, Aepyornis hildebrandti, means "Hildebrand's High Bird".
Aepyornis was most likely a herbivore based on studies from modern Ratites, it probably ate low hanging tropical fruits. It's thought to have been nocturnal, its middle tow was elongated possibly used for attacking.
Aepyornis could grow up to 3 m long. A. maximus weighed up to 330-540 Kg and A. hildebrandti weighed up to 210-340 Kg.
It is widely believed that the extinction of Aepyornis was the result of human activity. The birds were initially widespread, occurring from the northern to the southern tip of Madagascar. One theory states that humans hunted the elephant birds to extinction in a very short time for such a large landmass (the blitzkrieg hypothesis). There is indeed evidence that they were killed. However, their eggs may have been the most vulnerable point in their life cycle. A recent archaeological study found fragments of eggshells among the remains of human fires, suggesting that the eggs regularly provided meals for entire families.
Paleo Exhibit: Aepyornis
Next week's Paleo Exhibit: Andesaurus
The last part was taken from Wikipedia because I was too lazy to type any more
19 Votes in Poll