What were the elephant birds?

Elephant birds were massive birds found on the island of Madagascar within 1500, when they finally succumbed to human pressure and disappeared. At that time, these birds were the largest living birds on Earth, and the evidence suggests that they may have been among the largest birds who lived at all; Adults could measure more than 10 feet (three meters) high, which had to be quite a look. Two genera, aepyornis and mullerornis were classified in this family. Birds are also known under the alternative name Vorompathy, the word taken from the Malagas language. According to all accounts, the elephant birds were very undermined that muscular and drawings indicate that they looked like particularly large chickens with very long necks. It seems that their feathers were gray, while their beaks were modified to eat a wide range of tropical fruits and plants on their native island of Madagascar.

These no -flying birds are classifiForged like rattes, which means they lack the keel, part of the breast bone to which the flight muscles could be attached. Many rats have achieved impressive sizes; For example, ostriches, Emus and Rheas are all rattes and many have also evolved on the islands. Elephant birds are probably only remotely connected to other ratite, because Madagascar has separated from Africa so long ago that the birds most likely evolved themselves. Some people suggested that elephant birds probably provided inspiration for fearsome Rocs in Sinbad's sailor stories.

The result is their insular environment, elephant birds were woefully unprepared for European civilization when it arrived. According to all accounts, the birds were quite slow and stupid, allowing them to easily go to travel sailors, and while their large size inspired respect, it was not enough to protect the birds from hunting to extract. Several collections of natural history contain examples of elephant skeletons and fossilized eggs and it is worth finding whetherYou have a chance to visit.