Page 13 - Prehistoric Animals

EE-PE-OR-NIS + Maxi-mus

Aepyornis maximus*

Aepyornis maximus, also known as an Elephant bird, was a ratite; a flightless bird. With
a weight of 275–500+ kilograms and a height of 3 meters it’s believed to be one of the largest
birds living at the time. Its large size is put down to a phenomenon known as ’island gigantism’.
This phenomenon occurs in animals that have for millions of years lived isolated on an island.

Around 85 to 100 million years ago, India, Australia, Africa, South America and Antarcti-
ca formed one large land mass known as ‘Gondwana’. As the land mass brock-up and drifted
apart into its respective continents, a bird, possibly a distant relative of the African Ostrich or
New Zealand Kiwi, was left stranded on the island of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa.
There it remained slowly adapting to its isolated environment and growing into what we know
today as the Aepyornis maximus or Elephant bird.

Although extinct today, the Elephant bird was believed to inhabit Madagascar until
around the 17 century. Its demise many believe was the result of human activity on the island.
th
Over hunting by man and his plundering of the birds huge eggs are cited as the main causes that
drove the Elephant bird into extinction. Evidence of this has been uncovered in the excavations
of ancient human habitats where large quantities of birds’ bones and egg shells have been found.
Another reason cited, is the introduction of foreign animals, like pigs and chickens, onto the is-
land. These would have brought with them unknown viruses and illness the Elephant bird had
no defence against.

Large birds and
their association with
elephants has long
been a feature in art
and literature. On
some Islamic ceram-
ics, a large bird can
be seen with an ele-
phants head. In fan-
tastical stories and
poems large birds are
said to have snatched Elephants in their
talons and carried them off. Of course, no
one had ever identified these huge ele-
phant carrying birds; they were simply
imaginary birds of fiction.
That is until the discovery of the
huge bird Aepyornis maximus. It was in-
stantly assumed to be the elephant carry-
ing bird and was christened the Elephant
bird. The name Elephant bird is now used
to describe many of the large birds of Mad-
agascar
*Note
Aepyornis—is the name of the genus or group
Maximus—is the unique name assigned to that par-
ticular member of the genus