Aepyornis

[ee-pee-awr-nis]

noun

1. an extinct genus of ratite birds, best known from the Pleistocene Epoch of Madagascar, having massive legs and rudimentary wings, and growing to a height of 8 feet (2.4 meters).

aepyornis

/ ˌiːpɪˈɔːnɪs /

noun

1. any of the large extinct flightless birds of the genus Aepyornis, remains of which have been found in Madagascar

Word History and Origins

Origin of aepyornis¹

< New Latin (1850) < Greek aipý ( s ) steep, lofty, + órnīs bird

Word History and Origins

Origin of aepyornis¹

C19: New Latin, from Greek aipus high + ornis bird

Example Sentences

Hard-shelled eggs vary in size, from small eggs, such as that of a hummingbird or chicken, to the huge egg that belongs to the extinct Madagascan elephant bird, Aepyornis maximus.

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Last year a complete egg of an aepyornis maximus, otherwise known as an elephant bird, sold for $130,000 – roughly five times what it would have gone for a decade earlier.

Read more on The Guardian

Just a few thousand years ago, gargantuan fauna roamed the planet, from the gorilla-sized sloth lemur Archaeoindris fontoynontii to the elephant bird Aepyornis maximus.

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His conclusion, published Wednesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science, is that there were actually three genera of elephant bird rather than two, and four species rather than 15: Mulleornis modestus, Aepyornis hildebrandti, Aepyornis maximus and Vorombe titan.

Read more on New York Times

One of those species, A. maximus, had long been considered the heaviest elephant bird, until a British scientist in 1894 claimed to have discovered an even larger species, Aepyornis titan.

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