September 25, 2018, Zoological
Society of London
After decades of conflicting
evidence and numerous publications, scientists at international conservation
charity ZSL's (Zoological Society of London) Institute of Zoology, have finally
put the 'world's largest bird' debate to rest. Published today (26 September
2018) in Royal Society Open Science—Vorombe
titan (meaning 'big bird' in Malagasy and Greek), has taken the title
reaching weights of up to 800 kg and three metres tall, with the research also
discovering unexpected diversity in these Madagascan creatures.
Until now, it was previously
suggested that up to 15 different species of elephant birds had been identified
under two genera, however research by ZSL scientists boasts new rigorous and
quantitative evidence—that shows, in fact, this is not the case. Armed with a
tape measure and a pair of callipers, Dr. Hansford analysed hundreds of elephant
bird bones from museums across the globe to uncover the world's largest bird,
while also revealing their taxonomy is in fact spread across three genera and
at least four distinct species;
thus, constituting the first taxonomic reassessment of the family in over 80
years.
Elephant birds (belonging to the
family Aepyornithidae) are an extinct group of colossal flightless birds that
roamed Madagascar during the Late Quaternary, with two genera (Aepyornis and Mullerornis)
previously recognised by scientists. The first species to be described, Aepyornis maximus, has often been
considered to be the world's largest bird. In 1894, British scientist C.W.
Andrews described an even larger species, Aepyornis titan, this has
usually been dismissed as an unusually large specimen of A. maximus.
However, ZSL's research reveals
Andrew's 'titan' bird was indeed a distinct species. The shape and size of its
bones are so different from all other elephant birds that it has now been given
the new genus name Vorombe by ZSL.
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