#vorombe

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

DMM ROUND FOUR MASTERPOST

ORNITHISCHIAN FINAL MATCHUP:

Changmiania vs Jakapil

SAUROPODOMORPH FINAL MATCHUP:

Kholumolumo vs Bajadasaurus

NON-NEORNITHINE THEROPOD FINAL MATCHUP:

Berthasaura vs Caihong

NEORNITHINE FINAL MATCHUP:

Vorombe vs Heracles

REBLOG! SHARE! DEBATE!

IT'S DINOSAUR MARCH MADNESS!

[plokool]

Vote for Annakacygna!

First off, it's a weird and enormous swan, which is pretty cool on its own, but more importantly, Vorombe is sadly not in the spirit of Dinosaur March Madness: Rising Stars. When it was most likely its own genus, Vorombe would have been a worthy contender, but given the paper indicating it may not be distinct from Aepyornis, this is no longer the case. This year's contest is meant to celebrate recent discoveries, and while a new and informative fossil of a preexisting bird is exciting, it just wouldn't be right for that to win the bird bracket over something truly distinct. I'd hate to have the top bird (or even DMM winner) need to have an asterisk by its name. I have hope that Heracles or Cryptogyps has a chance to defeat Vorombe in the next round, but it's not a guarantee. This is a humble request to consider this factor if you haven't already voted this round.

P.S.: If your reason to vote for Vorombe is that it reminds you of Harambe, I'm sorry, but I don't care for that joke in general and it's hardly a reason for a DMM vote

[xtruss]

Ancient Worlds: Early Humans May Have Shared Ancient Europe With This 1,000-Pound Bird

A new study suggests a half-ton bird roamed Europe nearly 2 million years ago, around when our Homo predecessors were first entering the region.

— By Katherine J. Wu | Wednesday, June 26, 2019 | NOVA

An artist's impression of Pachystruthio dmanisensis, an extinct giant bird that a new study suggests lived in early Europe around the same time that early humans first entered the region around 1.8 or 1.7 million years ago. Image Credit: Andrey Atuchin

Traveling to a foreign place is tough under any circumstances. But you can bet your bonnet it was a particularly onerous task 2 million years ago, around the time when early humans first left the African continent.

On these early sojourns, our predecessors didn’t just lack the luxuries of modern wayfarers. Upon entering what’s now Europe, they also had to contend with unpredictable food and water sources, sharp-toothed carnivores… and, apparently, some insanely big birds.

Or, at least, that’s what a new fossil find suggests. According to a study published today in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, early Europe may once have been home to a now-extinct species of giant, flightless bird that clocked in at close to 1,000 pounds, at least three times the weight of your savanna-variety ostrich, the largest bird still alive today.

If the finding pans out, this behemoth bird could occupy a fortuitous juncture in space and time. Not only would it be among the first of its kind documented above the equator—but it may also have had the distinct honor of sharing the landscape with ancient humans at a pivotal point in their geographical diversification.

“If you had asked me before this paper if a giant bird could compete with herbivorous mammals on their own turf in an ice age world, I probably would have said no,” says Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, a vertebrate paleontologist at Yale University who was not involved in the study. “But this is quite a remarkable bird...this study could really add to our understanding of the ancient landscape in which some of our earliest relatives lived.”

The femurs of Pachystruthio dmanisensis, an extinct giant bird (panels A, C, E, F), and a modern common ostrich (Struthio camelus) (panels B, D). Image Credit: Zelenkov et al., Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2019

It’s only once in a blue moon that evolution cooks up a bird the size of a grand piano. As far as we humans know, it’s happened just a handful of times throughout history, perhaps most famously in the mihirungs (Dromornis) of Australia and the elephant birds (Mullerornis, Vorombe, and Aepyornis) of Madagascar, each of which may have weighed close to 1,500 pounds.

After all, it’s not easy being big. Bulk certainly has its perks, but the downsides range from conspicuousness (a problem for predators and prey alike) to extra exposure to the elements. On the whole, researchers still don’t have a good grasp on all the conditions that precipitated the rise and fall of gigantism in most animal lineages, which makes every new instance a potential paleontological goldmine.

So far, this new specimen is represented by only a single, 15-inch femur unearthed from the Taurida Cave on what’s now the Crimean Peninsula. Without more of the skeleton available, it’s tough to make more than a handful of approximations. But by analyzing the thigh bone’s shape and size, a team led by study author Nikita Zelenkov, a paleontologist at the Russian Academy of Sciences, assigned to the species Pachystruthio dmanisensis—a lineage distinct from the Struthio genus that includes the common ostrich (Struthio camelus).

The name also contains a nod to the nearby archaeological site of Dmanisi, Georgia, where several ancient animal remains (including, Zelenkov notes, a couple giant bird femurs described in 1990 that look strikingly similar to this new one) and some of the oldest known Homo fossils outside of Africa have been uncovered

Using the bone’s dimensions, the researchers estimated the bird’s body mass to be around half a ton—a quantity nearly on par with an adult polar bear. Through sheer weight alone, P. dmanisensis may be the largest known avian in the northern hemisphere, Zelenkov says.

Based on the fossil’s age—about 1.8 or 1.7 million years old—P. dmanisensis likely kept similarly colossal company. At the time, the creatures that stalked the earth included giant hyenas and supersized versions of today’s carnivorous cats, both of which would have gladly noshed on flightless fowl.

Luckily, it seems this bird had some tricks up its wing. Like many other heavyset avians of the past, P. dmanisensis boasted thick, dense bones that kept it from taking to the skies. But compared to its ancient cousins like elephant birds, this bird had a femur that was relatively slender and long. The bone almost looks like a stockier, more robust version of something you’d find in a modern ostrich—a bird that can sprint at speeds near 45 miles per hour, says Jessie Atterholt, a vertebrate paleontologist and comparative anatomist at the University of California, Berkeley who was not involved in the study.

This similarities hint that P. dmanisensis might have been a pretty capable runner, Zelenkov says.

Of course, with a few hundred extra pounds on its massive frame, P. dmanisensis was almost certainly not dashing about at the same speeds as its distant modern cousin, and probably couldn’t sustain long bouts of continuous movement, says Delphine Angst, a paleobiologist and fossil bird expert at the University of Bristol who was not involved in the study. “It could probably run when it had to,” she says, “but this might not have been [its] favorite way of locomotion.”

One of the Dmanisi skulls, a collection of early human remains uncovered in Dmanisi, Georgia that date back to around 1.8 or 1.7 million years ago. The skulls are thought to represent some of the earliest groups of ancient humans that emigrated from Africa. Image Credit: Desc/Em, flickr

But even if the bird was cornered by a particularly dogged carnivore, Bhullar says, it probably had enough heft to hold its own. Though it lacked the ability to fly, he adds, this bird was clearly able to coexist with some of the most formidable foes of the era—including, perhaps, the most dangerous predators of all: early humans.

At least, for a time. P. dmanisensis eventually went the way of the dodo (though if we’re getting technical, it’s really the other way around). What’s not known, however, is why.

Given P. dmanisensis’ placement in time and space, early humans might seem an obvious culprit. (If so, it wouldn’t be the first time a Homo species has driven a big bird to extinction.) But the story might be more complicated than that. Zelenkov thinks there’s a decent chance the birds disappeared without any help from the genus Homo, instead succumbing to a combination of pressures from a changing climate, predation, and disease.

Without more fossils, it’s unclear if these birds interacted much with humans at all, says Julia Clarke, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Texas Austin who was not involved in the study. Though the archaeological evidence places the two groups in the same geographic region and date range, more data to suggest they occupied the same sites would strengthen the case, she says.

But all that has to start somewhere, Atterholt says. “It’s exciting that these birds made it into this part of Europe,” she adds. “Now that they know where these fossils are, hopefully field work will continue in this area.”

[lasersquid]

The Zquad strode down the znairstrip, barking manic changes to the already frazzled and hastily repurposed workers. Finding an engineer mounting guns to the airframe, Frilliam slapped him in the mouth. 'Are you insane?' Thwoop followed: 'These things will blow up for like...no reason!'

Flimsy Steve caught up with the group, his extra limbs trailing several carts of mirrors. The flight crew immediately prioritized these modestly delicate installation efforts over the previous battery of dramatic design alterations. There was simply no time to ask questions like where did these shells come from?, why is the engine mounted vertically?, or who is Flimsy Steve, he seems new?

The work was completed shortly after lunch: roast tinned ham sandwiches, expertly prepared by Flimsy Steve, who was now approximating a barbecue grill kissing a Law-Furnace.

Frilliam and Thwoop busied themselves verifying the reliability of the control systems with Znakespeare, while the crew assembled on the freshly worn ground.

After a brief address from Vorombe that concluded with 'Znail Zquadron, roll up' they took to the skies in formation, znailicopters ascending gracefully towards the darkening threat.

Flimsy Steve waited for them below. He wasn't doing any of that.

[pleistocene-pride]

Aepynornis is an extinct genus of elephant bird which was endemic to the island of Madagascar, Aepyornis first split from its elephant bird relative the Genyornis during the Oligocene epoch some 27 million years ago and existed well into the Holocene until around just 1,000 years ago. The first remains of Aepyornis to be scientifically described were actually several partial eggs found in the mid 1800s which were found and studied before any physical remains of the birds themselves. With the type species Aepyornis maximus being established in 1851. The number of species of aepyornis has varied over the years and has been up for debate with some establishing that there are 4 species A. hildebrandti, A. gracilis, A. medius and A. maximus, or that there is only 1 species A. maximus, or that there are 2 species A. hildebrandti and A. maximus. Recently a species Aepyornis titan was placed in the separate genus Vorombe by Hansford and Turvey in 2018, however even more recent genetic testing shows that Vorombe titan to just have been a particularly large population of aepyornis maximus. With the smaller species being roughly 6.6ft (2m) tall and 520lbs (235kg) while the largest individuals reached upwards of 10ft (3m) tall and 2,200lbs (1,000kg) Aepyornis were amongst if not the largest true birds to ever live. They had heads which bore a straight, thick conical beak, long necks, and large rounded bodies with completely vestigial wings and massive robust hind legs. Studies have shown that aepyornis would have sported fairly weak eyesight but an exceptional sense of smell indicating that they may have been primarily nocturnal like there closest living relatives the kiwis of New Zealand. These giants would have dwelled in the forests of Madagascar and fed upon various fruits, leaves, twigs, bark, nuts, shrubs, and grasses fulfilling the niche of megafaunal browser and mixed feeder which is fulfilled by elephants, giraffes, bovids, and cervids on other landmasses.

Art can be found at the following links:

[444names]

arab and quenya names

Afriathira Aftern Ahmany Aicanife Airenda Akbartahah Alcari Aldance Aldanórë Aldorunúmen Aldur Alimo Alquent Alquentië Alted Altári Amaid Amalibahjat Amaliéva Amalië Amberin Amerrína Amitta Analdamírëa Ancing Ancingil Andil Angalah Angar Angas Angolmo Anguest Apanórë Arass Arassive Araxë Arcambal Aries Artar Artarredeem Arver Asaibahim Asindon Astness Atanië Aulema Aulerië Ayerma Bariel Barima Baseem Begotto Beleri Biped Blostalid Brigings Butter Caladdin Caladriel Calaiar Calastar Calik Calië Calmaryasir Cambar Cantalmiel Canáro Carmen Casan Caster Charp Choingilómë Circafinder Ciriárana Ciryandas Cleaf Coastain Colaia Comerrína Condis Cuiving Dains Dalaki Darin Daugh Daught Daysundor Desira Dhakiayaman Dielila Dijah Diyah Doublime Duinehtë Dusta Eaglessam Eaglesset Eldal Eldaraxë Eldarin Eldië Elembengwë Elemmanhali Elvings Emist Ender Endil Endilmendil Enewain Ength Enquë Entir Enving Envingda Ercamba Eresters Eruontar Erussecondo Erusēni Essëa Evern Faaiz Fahid Fairondor Faitë Falalak Falalvinya Falla Farakah Faraxë Farhaad Faril Farimahtar Farrossë Fastir Fatend Fation Fatiq Fenca Finaldalómë Firyasar Folian Follo Foress Forestar Forofar Forsēn Forth Forto Fukat Fëands Fëano Fëanorto Ghanna Greathand Habah Hafiq Hakiayami Hakilah Hakiyya Haliman Halin Haliéva Haman Hamar Hamduh Hando Hanksgiving Hantur Harika Harië Hasseing Hastar Hastle Haver Haziz Healmaría Heasts Heaver Hecellia Heigh Helmo Helmort Helms Herumba Hesamidden Heylanto Hindacil Histarek Hollairë Hrávana Husnainurwë Husni Hussar Hyangalassë Hyaragrantë Hávanyáran Hísilvens Iestoneed Ihabidad Ilmar Imranamen Incáno Indómë Ingahyar Inlandúrien Innatarin Intar Isilil Isilvanwë Ision Islandúri Ismahammari Jalion Jamir Joural Jumahtar Kadaf Kaleh Kamidden Kareldë Karin Khadya Khalassë Khalemmad Khalf Khariah Laikhalf Laili Laitë Lalam Lamaitiver Lamar Lamarca Languest Laurëa Layba Leika Lemadi Lemondë Leylan Lindari Lindómë Londorion Lorde Loresses Loresta Lungolmo Láman Lómiel Lóriel Macalim Maiar Maithiyya Majib Makenitima Maliba Mamdar Mandafa Manhalls Manwion Marificed Marion Mastumno Mendi Mentain Menórë Mettúrin Mights Minassion Minehantir Minnóna Minórë Mistal Misto Mittle Moonan Mormo Mortreef Mounes Mufinwë Máhana Nabibeh Nadil Nairë Nalingo Naniyad Nanorto Narmast Nasarra Nasted Naucalast Neltar Nendil Nendilion Ninder Nized Noiril Noural Nurtahir Nussecar Nyelerionil Nísim Nísimahar Númendis Olossë Olóri Onórë Onótima Onótië Ormenelda Orombs Outher Owaishaunt Palass Parmen Petta Plack Poura Prain Qamaril Quenduinén Rabir Ramarida Rashiklah Raurondili Reckonindë Redeep Repossecil Reyhanata Roari Rohíni Royaliand Royalima Safif Safindorin Safinwë Safwand Saladdings Sallah Saman Sampion Secaran Secontalëa Seldur Semistayer Shaad Shadar Shaddad Shafinwë Sharden Sharderina Sharon Shauntrin Sheer Shiyya Siderer Sildi Silmaring Silmarion Silótë Sindacirya Sirin Sisilmar Skilah Sminyarrion Sorofarhaad Soromë Stang Stanis Streemad Strin Strucánus Suble Suhanna Súlime Tabiah Tahim Tamarë Tannon Tarin Tarissë Tasameen Taurema Tauremorma Tauren Taurer Taurong Tawfiqa Telen Telendur Telenwë Telepta Telper Thifa Tilinquë Tollo Tomba Tulla Táriel Túrossë Uinénië Ulmar Undaf Undurion Undómin Undónë Unira Urucalim Urufinwë Utumah Utumbar Vailate Valacentië Valakira Valaris Valarrína Valatarmë Valida Valima Valondo Vanimani Vanna Vorombs Vëantië Walah Walaicanan Wardandil Watcherda Wilin Wingolostor Withirds Wizari Wraisa Yamira Yasmithful Yavanyë Yazizadad Yesters Zeinah Zeing Zuhani Ñgolmo Úmairon

[alarmjust]

Longest wingspan

Photo: Delaware Museum of Natural HistoryĮlephant birds lived on Madagascar and were closely related to ratites - flightless birds such as the ostrich, emu, rhea, kiwi, and cassowary. The largest bird that ever lived and is now extinct was an elephant bird, Vorombe titan, of the extinct family Aepyornithidae. Their brains are one of the largest of all birds relative to their body size. Some say their intelligence rivals those of some apes, with the learning capacity of a 7-year old child. Mute swans aren't mute! They do make call sounds, but generally are quieter than other swans. Swan names for males, females, and young: The average weight of a male Mute Swan is 23-26 pounds, but one male from Poland weighed 51 pounds, which was recorded/verified as the world's heaviest flying bird. Wandering Albatross (longest wing span), 38.Trumpeter Swan (largest waterfowl species), 38.The largest flying birds in the world in descending order by maximum weight in pounds: The domestic turkey can average heavier weights, up to 86 pounds, but are not capable of sustained flight. Here are the largest flying birds in the world by weight.Īll of the below listed birds are capable of flight, although some, such as the bustards, only fly short distances. The average length of an egg is six inches long and average weight is three pounds which is equivalent to 24 large-sized chicken eggs! Top 10 Biggest Flying Birds in the World by Weight Ostriches also have the largest eggs among birds. Their large eyes helps them to spot predators such as lions. Ostriches have the largest eyes for a land animal - 2 inches in diameter.

[si-nequal-is]

Vorombe & greater aye-aye (Daubentonia robusta) under the moon.

[albertonykus]

A selection of new dinosaurs named in 2018.

[1dinodaily]

1/30/22 Vorombe (Elephant bird)

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Round Four: Vorombe vs Heracles

Vorombe titan

Artwork by @otussketching, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: Titan of the Big Birds 

Time: 10,000 years ago to sometime in the past 2000 years (Holocene epoch of the Quaternary period) 

Location: Southern Madagascar 

Vorombe is a newly erected genus of Elephant Bird, the largest that we know of! Whereas all species of Elephant Bird used to be put in the same genus, distinct differences among the types of Elephant Bird that we know of indicate they deserve their own genus names - and here we are! Vorombe was significantly larger than the other species of Elephant Bird, and probably was about 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) tall when standing. It was also ridiculously heavy, weighing around 650 kilograms. As such, Vorombe is currently the largest known bird ever recorded. It lived in the arid and succulent woodlands as well as the grassland mosaics, the weirdly unique habitats that charactierize Madagascar, and was a major feature in the functioning of those ecosystem - helping to spread plant seeds and maintain habitats as they lived within them. Vorombe and other Elephant Birds lived alongside a lot of weird animals during the Quaternary of Madadgascar, including dwarf hippos, giant tortoises, and giant lemurs. 

Note: A paper came out literally on the last day of February this year indicating Vorombe may not be its own genus, and as such, it would not qualify as a "rising star". More work is needed to determine if this bird is distinct from Aepyornis. Please take this into account when voting.

Heracles inexpectatus

Artwork by @otussketching, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: Unexpected Herculean Parrot 

Time: 16 to 19 million years ago (Burdigalian stage of the Miocene epoch, Neogene period) 

Location: St. Bathans Fauna, Bannockburn Formation, Aotearoa  

Heracles was a truly alarmingly large parrot, related to modern day Kea, Kaka, and Kakapo, known from the fantastic avifauna of St Bathans. Standing more than two feet tall and weighing about fifteen pounds, this animal was much larger than any expected from the St Bathans fauna, which represented the initial colonization of Aotearoa (Zealandia) after it returned above sea level. Heracles is also the largest known species of parrot, ever. It was presumably flightless, though it is uncertain if it was nocturnal like its living relative the Kakapo. Its exact ecology is still uncertain, given the material known from Heracles is limited and its living relatives have very disparate ecologies, though it is possible it was omnivorous similar to the Kea and Kaka today. The St Bathans fauna lived in a freshwater lake system, in a subtropical emergent rainforest. Separated from land bridges, the fauna was dominated by birds, with early relatives of the Kiwi, New Zealand Wrens, Adzebills, and Wedge-Tailed eagles found in the fauna, as well as somewhat modern looking Moas. Smaller flamingos, large fruit pigeons, and a huge variety of geese and other waterfowl are known. In addition, frogs, tuataras, other lizards, crocodilians, turtles, and many different types of fish are known from this fascinating ecosystem. 

[mablox]

V is for... #vorombe #elephantbird #bird #birdsofinstagram #fossil #fossils #palaeontology #palaeontologist #paleoart #naturalhistoryillustration #madagascar #madagascar🇲🇬 #neogene https://www.instagram.com/p/B8_eMf-JMRy/?igshid=1vt5i2s6s9p2n

[dailyelephant]

Elephant Birds

[lasersquid]

true story, i am a storylet away from being done with the railroad but i haven't been kicked out of court or the university. dreams can come true.

it's ridiculous that the fastest way to build fascinating is to powergrind inspired i am just saying.

update

ok fine i got kicked out of both in consecutive actions.

2pdate: the 'Man In Grey' yåchted across the sea, and the Fleet of Light followed.

Vorombe watched coolly as the smoke and lights of London smouldered into view above the Unterzee. They paid no attention to the sinking steamer directly in their path. They reasoned there would be at least a second and a half of clearance: it would either slide to starboard, burying its keel through the soft, pillowy mud, of the Lower River, or it would crack, and cleave akimbo. In either case, this was not their problem. Certainly Dr. Orthos would rescue any survivors. He would need something to talk about when he returned ashore.

Through it now. They could almost make out the harbor now, a low, squat buckle girdling the Fifth City,restraining its belly from spilling out across the Unterzee. 'Mark.' The query was worded as an order, because it was also an order. Words are often used to mean multiple things at the same time, and this is also true of tones, moods, tenses, and timbres. The voice was low for a woman, high for a man, and more precisely enunciated than most others, clipped and drawn. It was not the dialect of an En*lishman, though it sounded as if it was.

'Three Five Hundred.' The reply came promptly announced from the bridge. Four miles. Almost home. 'Fullest ahead.'

'Aye-sa.'

They walked along the burled and polished walnut deck, stopping once to buff out a scratch where some fool had ground his face into the wood. The body was gone, but a stubborn tooth had lingered, like a flea. They picked it free, sweeping it into a small purse carried over their left shoulder. Drawing upon the bridge like thunderclouds presumably still did over the moors, they sounded a low klaxon one, two, three, four times.

Above Hater's bridge, a young girl played jacks with her brother, a doughy-faced, gaptoothed toddler. A wreath of snapdragons adorned her hair. As the sound of the alarm reached her, her words mouthed the count: one, two, three, four, and a new one: now. In one graceful motion, the girl freed the cable concealed around her wrist, delicately casting it past a link in the wrought-iron fence, and catching it as it traveled past, deftly drawing the line close around her brother's arm. As she runs down the hill, a single dragonhead pops free, and into his surprised and open hand, and his incipient bawling is replaced with the wet, smacking noise of satiation.

The girl darts past a small cafe, and into a tailor's shop, emerging promptly with a mirror, to the excited and angry shouts of its owner. The tailor will return to find fifty pence stacked upon a small end table underneath a book. The early evening light glowers warm as she comes to a stop above Wolfstack Docks. She looks out at the harbor lights, fixes her gaze on the large headlight bearing down on the docks, adjusts the mirror up a few degrees, and throws herself behind it.

'Ledo eam.' The helmsman bursts from his station, leveraging a handbrake against his amply carcinized and corallified body weight as his powerful legs shuffle for orthogonality; the jointed plates along the back of his leg pinch shut, severing a handful of fine tendrils, no thicker than hair. They were all used to the acrid ammoniac burn by now. A midshipman loosens several leather straps from the bulkhead, casting one to his shipmate, who catches it in a veiny claw. A crash, and the feeling of pressure equalizing.

The anchor detonates through the mirror, bursting into view above the harbor as tricolored mizzile, a burzt of kaleidozcopic irrigo, gant, and violant zuzpended backwardz by a zlender ztring of iridezcent apozyan. Fazter than the zhip by far, it zcreamz pazt the harbor, znaking itz way down, and zkimming the zurface of the zee before zpearing through three zhipz in Orthoz' preziouz Fleet, currently rendering aid to the capzized zteamer.

The line drew taut. Stretched. Momentum considered, but did not defer. The anchor opens, revealing a translucent hemispheric canopy that eagerly seizes onto the ship as the line contracts, crushing two ships between the third and the late steamer's stern.

The yacht pinwheels towards the shore, engines churning deep reversing whorls. It draws to a stop, resting gently alongside her mooring berth as four indistinct figures drew up to the buoy in a small boat, which Vorombe descended to with practiced decorum.

The soft scuff of leather. 'Report.' Two more.

'Quiet day. Fed the Crosses. New trick?'

'It's not old.'

A snort of laughter. 'Spire, then?'

'Apples and pears. Think they saw?'

'Pretty sure everyone in the Neath saw that.'

'No. Some folks are blind.'

They arose from the boat one by one, into a waiting carriage bound for the unmistakable heart of the City. The Bazaar.

[anirobot]

Kaikenlaiset jättiläissorsat, kuten Stirtonin ukkoslintu (Dromornis stirtoni) saavat mennä tunkiolle ripottamaan tuhkaa päänsä päälle tämän jälkeen!

English language:

World's largest ever bird has been named: Vorombe titan

After decades of conflicting evidence and numerous publications, scientists have finally put the 'world's largest bird' debate to rest. Vorombe titan (meaning 'big bird' in Malagasy and Greek), has taken the title reaching weights of up to 800 kg and three meters tall, with the research also discovering unexpected diversity in these Madagascan creatures.

Vorombe - Wikipedia

Elephant bird - Wikipedia