Shown next to a ruby-throated hummingbird nest with eggs, is an
intact elephant bird
egg. The flightless elephant bird (Aepyornis sp.),
endemic to Madagascar, was
the largest bird ever known clocking in at 500-1000 pounds and
reaching about 10 feet high. The egg above is about 12 inches
long, the makings for quite an omelette!
Now extinct, elephant birds were ratities, a group of
large flightless birds that includes the living ostrich, emu, rhea,
cassowary, and kiwi. Elephant birds had pretty much
disappeared by the mid-1600's possibly due to overhunting or
disease.
DMNS has two intact elephant bird eggs, one of which is
currently on display in the Prehistoric
Journey permanent exhibition. The eggs are part of the
Oology Collection which numbers about 7,500 egg sets, the majority
of them 100+ years old.
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