Cambridge Encyclopedia :: Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 23

elephant bird - Elephant Bird Species, Gallery

An enormous bird, known from the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs; fossil remains found on Madagascar; flightless, stood up to 3 m/10 ft tall, and laid eggs more than 30 cm/1 ft long. (Family: Aepyornithidae.)

iElephant birds
Conservation status: Extinct (16th century)

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Superorder: Paleognathae
Order: Struthioniformes
Family: Aepyornithidae
Genera

Aepyornis
Mullerornis

Elephant birds are an extinct family of flightless birds made up of the genera Aepyornis and Mullerornis.

Elephant Bird Species

Aepyornis gracilis (Monnier, 1913) Aepyornis hildebrandti (Burckhardt, 1893) Aepyornis maximus (Geoffroy-Saint Hilaire, 1851) Aepyornis medius (Milne-Edwards &

Gallery

Aepyornis

User Comments Add a comment…

elephant seal [next] [back] elephant - Zoology, Usefulness to the environment, Threat of extinction, Humanity and elephants, Rogue elephant