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Elephant Bird Egg
Aepynoris maximus
-18.9214, 48.3101
Field Notes
Description:
This was the largest bird in the world. It was 10 feet tall and weighed 440Kg. or 970 pounds. It was a flightless bird. The birds were raitites, they could not fly and their breast bones had no keel. The eggs are 160 times the volume of a chicken egg. The bird laid the eggs similar to the way an ostrich lays its eggs.
Habitat:
They lived in the Southern part of the Island. Egg fragments were found in fire pits. The eggs are so big they could feed an entire family.
Notes:
This picture was taken near Vokona Forest Lodge in an exhibit there. A National Park is nearby. The larger egg in the corner is the egg belonging to the Elephant bird. Marco Polo noted these birds on his journeys. There are historical records of them being seen in the late 1600's.
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