The Aepyornis

“When they found an Aepyornis with a thigh a yard long, they thought they had reached the top of the scale, and called him Aepyornis maximus. Then someone turned up another thigh-bone four feet six or more, and that they called Aepyornis titan. Then your vastus was found.”

— H. G. Wells

The Bird

The Aepyornis maximus was the largest bird of its kind ever discovered (Uchytel). Being a ratite bird, it belonged to the same family as the emu and ostrich, and was native to Madagascar before going extinct hundreds of years ago (Dictionary.com). These creatures, also known as elephant birds, are estimated to have died out sometime during the 1800s (Uchytel).

The Egg

Aepyornis eggs were often more than one metre in circumference, and more than thirty-four centimetres in length, making them “the largest type of bird egg ever found” (Uchytel).

The Largest Genus

New Aepyornis bones are still surfacing to this day, giving palaeontologists greater insights into the vastness of the creature’s kind (Quenqua). Even in the last few years, researchers have found evidence of Aepyornis birds with estimated weights of over seventeen thousand pounds (Quenqua). The fact that scientists are constantly finding new information on these birds, and were also finding new information back in the days of H. G. Wells, gave the writer a perfect opportunity to imagine an even larger version of this species, and what could happen if it were to co-exist with a human.

For more information on the discovery of the largest Aepyornis on record, visit “The Elephant Bird Regains Its Title as the Largest Bird That Ever Lived.”

Alixx Hettinga | Dec. 1, 2019

Works Cited

Dictionary.com. “Aepyornis.” Dictionary.com, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/aepyornis.

Dinopedia. “Aepyornis.” Dinopedia, https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Aepyornis.

Quenqua, Douglas. “The Elephant Bird Regains Its Title as the Largest Bird That Ever Lived.” The New York Times, 26 Sept. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/science/largest-elephant-bird.html.

Uchytel, Roman. “Aepyornis Maximus.” Prehistoric Fauna – Extinct Animals Images – Reconstructions, https://prehistoric-fauna.com/Aepyornis-maximus.

Wells, Herbert George. “Aepyornis Island.” 1894. Literature Network, http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/1/.

Wordless Tech. “Giant Elephant Bird Egg up for Auction.” WordlessTech, 29 Mar. 2013, https://wordlesstech.com/giant-elephant-bird-egg-up-for-auction/.