[ad_1]
After decades of contradictory evidence and numerous publications, a team of researchers at the Zoological Institute of London Zoological Society has finally put to rest the biggest global debate on birds.
Illustration of an artist representing a giant elephant. Image credit: Jaime Chirinos.
Elephant birds are members of the extinct family of Aepyornithidae, with two genera – Aepyornis and Mullerornis – already recognized by scientists.
These huge, flightless birds were rare species, such as ostrich, rhea, emu, cassowary and kiwi.
They lived on the island of Madagascar at the end of the Quaternary and died out around the 13th to the 17th century.
The first elephant species to be described, Aepyornis maximus, has often been considered the largest bird in the world.
In 1894, the British scientist C.W. Andrews described an even larger species, Aepyornis titan, which was generally rejected as an exceptionally large specimen of Aepyornis maximus.
However, the new study, led by James Hansford, reveals Aepyornis titan was indeed a distinct species.
Now named Titan of Vorombe (meaning "big bird" in Malagasy and Greek), the species had a body mass of 800 kg and could reach 10 feet (3 m) in height.
"Elephant birds were the largest of Madagascar's megafauna and arguably one of the most important in the evolutionary history of the island – even more so than lemurs," Hansford said.
"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."
"Madagascar still suffers the effects of the extinction of these birds today."
In this study, Hansford and his colleague, Professor Samuel Turvey, analyzed hundreds of elephant bones from museums around the world to discover the world's largest bird, while revealing that their taxonomy spanned three genera and at least four distinct species. thus, constituting the first taxonomic reassessment of the family for more than 80 years.
"Without a clear understanding of the diversity of species of the past, we can not understand evolution or ecology in unique island systems like Madagascar or reconstruct exactly what has been lost since the arrival of humans on these islands" said Professor Turvey.
"Knowing the history of biodiversity loss is critical to determining how to conserve today's threatened species."
The study is published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
_____
James P. Hansford and Samuel T. Turvey. 2018. Unexpected diversity among extinct elephants (Aves: Aepyornithidae) and new identity of the world's largest bird. R. Soc. open sci 5: 81295; doi: 10.1098 / rsos.181295
Source link
