Researchers name Vorombe Titan as the world's largest bird

What is common between ostriches, rheas, emus and kiwis (not obviously New Zealanders)? They are all elephant birds belonging to the extinct family of birds called Aepyornithidae. They had two genres previously recognized by scientists Aepyornis and Mullerornis, says Sci-News.

Believing that they traveled the island of Madagascar until their extinction in the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, the first of its species, Aepyornis maximus, had often been considered the largest bird in the world. In 1894, British scientist CW Andrews described an even larger species, Aepyornis titan. It has often been considered an exceptionally large specimen of Aepyornis maximus.

A new study by James Hansford reveals that Aepyornis titan was after all a distinct species. Aepyornis titan is now called Vorombe titan. According to Sci-News, the species had a body mass of 800 kilograms and reached a height of 10 feet (3 meters). Its name means "big bird" in Malagasy and Greek.

"Elephant birds were the largest of Madagascar's megafauna and probably one of the most important in the evolutionary history of the island – even more so than lemurs," commented Hansford. "This is because large animals have a huge impact on the ecosystem in which they live by controlling vegetation by eating plants, spreading biomass and dispersing seeds through defecation."

In this new study, Hansford has analyzed hundreds of elephant bird bones from museums around the world to find the largest bird in the world with his colleague, Professor Samuel Turvey. During the process, they revealed that their taxonomy is in fact spread over three genera and at least four different species, resulting in the first taxonomic reassessment of the family for more than eighty years.

"Without a clear understanding of the diversity of species of the past, we can not understand the evolution or ecology in unique island systems such as Madagascar or reconstruct exactly what has been lost since the arrival of humans on these islands. Commented Professor Turvey. He emphasized the importance of knowing the history of biodiversity loss to determine how to conserve today's threatened species. The study was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Courtesy of the online image: Jaime Chirinos

Cover image: Heidi Ma

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