Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
An individual mute swan, which may have lost the power of flight due to extreme weight, was found to have weighed 23 kg (51 lb). [17] Meanwhile, the sarus crane is the tallest flying bird alive, at up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) tall, standing about as high as Argentavis due to its long legs and neck. [citation needed]
Aepyornis is an extinct genus of elephant bird formerly endemic to Madagascar. The genus had two species, the smaller A. hildebrandti and the larger A. maximus, which is possibly the largest bird ever to have lived. [2] Its closest living relative is the New Zealand kiwi. [3]
The heaviest bird ever capable of flight was Argentavis magnificens, the largest member of the now extinct family Teratornithidae, found in Miocene-aged fossil beds of Argentina, with a wingspan up to 5.5 m (18 ft), a length of up to 1.25 m (4.1 ft), a height on the ground of up to 1.75 m (5.7 ft) and a body weight of at least 71 kg (157 lb).
The researchers said it sheds new light on what the region looked like millions of years ago and the food chain there. Scientists think the region was humid and full of rivers and other water bodies.
Analyzing a leg bone from a fossil site in Colombia, scientists have identified a massive “terror bird” that lived about 12 million years ago.
The largest dimensions found in this species are an approximate head-to-tail length of 1.44 m (4.7 ft) and a wingspan of 3.65 m (12.0 ft). The largest bird of all time was likely the elephant bird Aepyornis maximus, which was estimated to have weighed 275–1,000 kilograms (610–2,200 lb) and stood at 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall. [4] [5]
They are thought to have gone extinct around AD 1000, likely as a result of human activity. Elephant birds comprised three species, one in the genus Mullerornis, and two in Aepyornis. Aepyornis maximus is possibly the largest bird to have ever lived, with their eggs being the largest known for any amniote.
The structure of the fossils also suggest that these birds may have been swifter than originally thought. [25] A skull from a smaller subspecies of this bird was also found recently. With this fossil, it was found that the internal structure of the beak is hollow and reinforced with thin-walled trabeculae.