elephant bird en · NOUN
Etymology
Apparently from Marco Polo's description of the legendary roc as being capable of seizing a small elephant.
Meanings
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Any of the very large extinct flightless birds that make up the genera Aepyornis and Mullerornis within family Aepyornithidae, and lived in Madagascar until the 17th or 18th century; especially †Aepyornis maximus.
All^([of order Struthioniformes]) except tinamous are flightless; they include the largest birds ever known (moas and elephant birds) and the largest living bird (Ostrich).
2013, Roger Safford, Frank Hawkins, The Birds of Africa, volume VIII, The Malagasy Region, page 107:Another very notable feature of Madagascar was the elephant bird (Aepyornis maximus), an enormous relative of the ostrich which reached 3 m in height.
2009, Jonathan Adams, Species Richness: Patterns in the Diversity of Life, page 242:The fossil record is also poor for moa and the aepyornid elephant birds, in that both are mainly known from remains that date from historical times.
2002, Gregory S. Paul, Dinosaurs of the Air: The Evolution and Loss of Flight in Dinosaurs and Birds, page 306:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| elephantbird | alternative | lexicographic | |
| elephant birds | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (8)
es ave elefante (extinct flightless bird) · vi chim voi (extinct flightless bird) · fr oiseau-éléphant (extinct flightless bird) · de Elefantenvogel (extinct flightless bird) · ca ocell elefant (extinct flightless bird) · cmn 隆鳥 /隆鸟 (extinct flightless bird) · ko 코끼리새 (extinct flightless bird) · fi norsulintu (extinct flightless bird)