Aepyornis

Aepyornis is a genus of aepyornithid, one of two genera of ratite birds endemic to Madagascar known as elephant birds. The species A. maximus weighed up to 400 kilograms (880 lb), and was the world's largest bird until its extinction, about 1000 years ago.

Taxonomy
Four species are usually accepted in the genus Aepyornis today; A. hildebrandti, A. gracilis, A. medius and A. maximus,[2] but the validity of some is disputed, with numerous authors[weasel words] treating them all in just one species, A. maximus.


 * Aepyornis gracilis Monnier, 1913[1]
 * Aepyornis hildebrandti Burckhardt, 1893[1]
 * Aepyornis mulleri Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894


 * Aepyornis maximus Hilaire, 1851[1]
 * Aepyornis modestus Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1869
 * Aepyornis ingens Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894
 * Aepyornis titan Andrews, 1894


 * Aepyornis medius Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1866[1]
 * Aepyornis grandidieri Rowley, 1867
 * Aepyornis cursor Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894
 * Aepyornis lentus Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894

Etymology
Aepyornis maximus is commonly known as the 'elephant bird', a term that apparently originated from Marco Polo's account of the rukh in 1298, although he was apparently referring to an eagle-like bird strong enough to "seize an elephant with its talons".[3] Sightings of eggs of elephant birds by early sailors (e.g. text on the Fra Mauro map of 1467–69, if not attributable to ostriches) could also have been erroneously attributed to a giant raptor from Madagascar. The legend of the roc could also have originated from sightings of such a giant subfossil eagle related to the African Crowned Eagle, which has been described in the genus Stephanoaetus from Madagascar,[4] being large enough to carry off large primates; today, lemurs still retain a fear of aerial predators such as these. Another might be the perception of ratites retaining neotenic features and thus being mistaken for enormous chicks of a presumably more massive bird.

Description
Aepyornis, which was a giant, flightless ratite native to Madagascar, has been extinct since at least the 17th century. Aepyornis was the world's largest bird, believed to have been 3 metres (10 ft) tall and weighing close to half a ton – 400 kilograms (880 lb).[5] Remains of Aepyornis adults and eggs have been found; in some cases the eggs have a circumference of over 1 meter (3.3 ft) and a length up to 34 centimetres (13 in).[6] The egg volume is about 160 times greater than a chicken egg.