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Project Noah Nature School
Aepynoris maximus
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.
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.
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.
Spotted on Mar 15, 2008
Submitted on Jul 10, 2011
4 Comments
i wish i had a size comp - is that an ostrich egg in the middle?
Very interesting!
Thanks, it would have been interesting to see a live one back when they roamed the Island. Makes me wonder how fast they could run, since the Ostriches which are still around run quite fast.
good info!