Elephant Birds: Order Aepyornithiformes

This order is an extinct order of birds that are known from bones found in Madagascar. They are the so-called Elephant-Birds. One of the more remarkable features of this bird are the giant eggs that it laid. It is also a large flightless bird.

BIODIVERSITY / BIOGEOGRAPHY:

Its difficult to tell how many birds there were in this order as there are no known living representatives. An examination of the fossils has shown that their range was restricted to Africa and Madagascar (except one found in Persia). Taxonomists have placed these fossils into 4 genera, Eremopezus, Stromeria, Mullerornis and Aepyornis. Fossils have also shown that a represenative of these birds probably lived about 1000 years ago before it went extinct.

LINKS

Elephant Bird Lore, Ecology, and Fossil Evidence