maximus specimens-and their bones look kinda different, too. But they are so gigantic-hundreds of pounds heavier than the other A. For a long time, the biggest specimens had been classified as jumbo members of a species known as Aepyornis maximus. Lichtman: Like the one with the giant leg bones that James mentioned. Of particular interest are the most elephantine members of the elephant bird herd. Lichtman: Scientists have debated the elephant birds family tree since their discovery in the 1800s. Grealy: There’s just been a lot of debate throughout history about how many species there were. She worked with James and other colleagues to answer some basic questions about elephant birds, such as: Who are they related to? How did they evolve? Who made up the group? Lichtman: That’s paleogeneticist Alicia Grealy. Hansford : They were alive up until 1,000 years ago, but we know so much less about them than, say, Tyrannosaurus rex.Īlicia Grealy: There are all these questions because there are very large gaps in the fossil record. Lichtman: These behemoths appeared 30 million years ago, and they stuck around a long time. The circumference of the femur is over a foot. How do you even picture it? Well, when I measured the femur around, it was 30 centimeters, over a foot in circumference. Lichtman (tape): My god, I’m having a hard time really even picturing that. Hansford: The biggest I measured for any of the elephant birds was somewhere around 1,900 pounds. There were a number of different species that ranged from the size of an ostrich to the size of a smart car.

They seem to have been mostly herbivorous. Lichtman: Elephant birds lived in Madagascar. Hansford: Just absolute titans of the bird world. Lichtman: This is elephant bird expert and paleontologist James Hansford …

Today we’re homing in on the heaviest bird to set its scaly foot down on planet Earth: the elephant bird. Last episode, we talked about the biggest bird to fly. Lichtman: I’m Flora Lichtman, with Scientific American’s Science, Quickly, and this is Episode Two of my homage to Earth’s real big birds. James Hansford: I think, first off, the size. You can listen to Episode One here.įlora Lichtman (tape): For people who’ve never heard of an elephant bird, what do they need to know? This is Episode Two of a four-part Fascination on really big birds.

Easy bird sketch