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elephant bird
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Illustration of the extinct elephant bird species Vorombe titan, showing a large, flightless bird with a long neck, robust legs, and brownish feathers, with a size scale indicating height. Aepyornis skeleton
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Illustration of the extinct elephant bird species Vorombe titan, showing a large, flightless bird with a long neck, robust legs, and brownish feathers, with a size scale indicating height.
elephant bird (Vorombe titan) Vorombe titan was the largest member of the Aepyornithidae, an extinct family of giant flightless birds, and was the largest bird that ever lived.

elephant bird

extinct bird
Also known as: Aepyornithidae
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History

elephant bird, (family Aepyornithidae), any of several species of extinct giant flightless birds classified in the family Aepyornithidae and found as fossils in Pleistocene and Holocene deposits on the island of Madagascar. Modern taxonomies include three genera (Aepyornis, Mullerornis, and Vorombe), with the species V. titan being both the largest member of the family and the largest bird that ever lived. Fossil remains of elephant birds have been known since the 19th century, and the...

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