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The story was not nice with the Madagascar elephant bird. Nearly 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,000 pounds – as researchers believed – this cousin unable to steal an ostrich died out in the 17th century, in part because humans stole their eggs massive, like flasks of giant rum. Or both.
More recently, the designation of the bird as the heaviest in history has been put to the test by the discovery of Dromornis Sturtoni, an Australian giant unable to fly that died out 20,000 years ago.
But a new study seeks to restore the elephant's heavyweight title. After a taxonomic shake-up and an examination of the remains of elephant birds collected, the researchers to say that a member of a previously unknown genus of birds could have weighed more than 1700 pounds, making it by far the largest bird ever known.
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Over the centuries, scientists have participated in the collection and exhibition of larger elephant bones. But, "nobody has done real consistent research on these birdsSaid James Hansford, a paleontologist from the Zoological Society of London and lead author of the study, which created taxonomic confusion for the feathered giants. As a result, more than 15 species of elephant birds have been identified across two genera (the plural of the genus, the name of a group of closely related species).
To sort the elephant family tree, Dr. Hansford hoped to determine where one species ended and the next started. He traveled the world with a tape measure examining thousands of elephant bones. He then used modern bird data and algorithms to help determine what size could the birds have.
One of these species, A. maximus, had long considered the heaviest elephant, until a British scientist in 1894 claimed to have discovered an even larger species, Aepyornis titan. Other researchers have rejected this conclusion, stating that "A. Titan was simply an exceptionally important member of the A. maximus clan.
But Dr. Hansford reports that "A. Titan is not only his own species, but a distinct kind of elephant bird much larger, as evidenced by the distinct size and shape of the three limb bones. He named the species and the genus Vorombe titan; vorombe is a Malagasy word meaning "big bird".
"They thought the second largest elephant, Aepyornis maximus, was the biggest, and they estimated them at around 400 to 500 pounds, which is okay," said Dr. Hansford. (One hundred pounds equals 220 pounds, roughly the weight of a grand piano.) But the newly discovered species is "much larger, up to 800 kilos, maybe twice the body mass of A. Maximus'.
Dr. Hansford thinks his study is the most rigorous examination of elephant birds for nearly a century and that he has grouped outdated names under more specific titles.
"In the 19th and early 20th century, many scientists were trying to claim a new species on the basis of very little evidence, such as the fact that one bone was just a few millimeters longer than another bone. ", did he declare. "It's not just about size, but about what's different."
Although the fate of the bird elephants was sealed long ago, Dr. Hansford believes his work can contribute to conservation efforts in Madagascar, where many unique species of plants and animals are threatened.
"These birds have spent millions of years co-evolving with plants and animals in Madagascar," he said. "To help conserve some of the most chronically endangered plants in Madagascar, we need to understand the ecological interactions we have lost."
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