Madagascar is home to some of the world’s most unique and remarkable species. However, one of its most awe-inspiring residents, the elephant bird, vanished from the planet roughly 1,000 years ago.

More than 1,200 years ago, flightless elephant birds roamed the island of Madagascar and laid eggs bigger than footballs. While these ostrich-like giants are now extinct, new research from CU Boulder ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Islands breed strange animals. Isolated from the rest of the world ...

Madagascar’s extinct elephant birds – the largest birds ever to have lived – have captured public interest for hundreds of years. Little is known about them due to large gaps in the skeletal fossil ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American Over a thousand years ago, on Madagascar, ...

History has not been kind to the elephant bird of Madagascar. Standing nearly 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,000 pounds — or so researchers believed — this flightless cousin of the ostrich went ...

hat a whole Aepyornis egg would have looked like when freshly laid, seen in a market near the town of Toliara on the southwest coast of Madagascar. Credit: Gifford Miller hat a whole Aepyornis egg ...