Biology:Mullerornis
Mullerornis modestus is an extinct species of elephant bird, and the only member of the genus Mullerornis.
Taxonomy
The genus Mullerornis was described in 1894 by Alphonse Milne-Edwards & Alfred Grandidier.[1] The genus is named after Georges Muller, a French explorer, who was killed in 1892 by hostile members of the Sakalava people.
Synonyms of Mullerornis modestus
- Mullerornis betsilei Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894[2] (Betsileo elephant bird)
- Mullerornis agilis Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 (agile/coastal elephant bird)
- Mullerornis rudis Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894[3] (robust elephant bird)
- ?Mullerornis grandis Lamberton 1934 (holotype destroyed in a fire in 1995)
Description
Mullerornis is smaller than the more well-known Aepyornis,[4][5] with a still substantial body mass of approximately 80 kilograms (180 lb).[6] A bone possibly belonging to Mullerornis has been radiocarbon dated to about 1260 BP,[7] suggesting that the animal was still extant at the end of the first millennium.[8] Aepyornis modestus was shown by Hansford and Turvey (2018) to be a senior synonym of all nominal Mullerornis species described by Milne-Edwards and Grandidier (1894), resulting in the new combination Mullerornis modestus.[9]
Palaeobiology
Nocturnality
Like other elephant birds and its kiwi relatives, Mullerornis probably was nocturnal based on the small size of its optic lobes, though it shows less optical lobe reduction than these other taxa, implying slightly more crepuscular habits.[10]
Diet
Isotopic evidence suggests that Mullerornis was likely a browsing herbivore.[11]
Reproduction
The eggs of Mullerornis are substantially smaller than those of Aepyornis, weighting approximately 0.86 kilograms (1.9 lb), with a shell thickness of about 1.1 mm (3⁄64 in).[6]
Footnotes
- ↑ Milne-Edwards A, Grandidier A. 1894 Observations sur les Aepyornis de Madagascar. C. R. Hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci. Paris 13, 122–127.
- ↑ Julian P. Hume; Michael Walters (2012). Extinct birds. T&AD Poyser. p. 544. ISBN 978-1-4081-5861-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=z7RIAkGw0-UC&pg=PA26.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedDavies - ↑ Burney, et al. (1997), p. 763
- ↑ MacPhee, et al. (1985), table II
- ↑ Burney, et al. (2004), p. 50
- ↑ Burney et al. (2004), p. 25
- ↑ Hansford, J. P.; Turvey, S. T. (2018-09-26). "Unexpected diversity within the extinct elephant birds (Aves: Aepyornithidae) and a new identity for the world's largest bird". Royal Society Open Science. 5 (9): 181295. doi:10.1098/rsos.181295.
- ↑ Christopher R. Torres & Julia A. Clarke. 2018. Nocturnal giants: evolution of the sensory ecology in elephant birds and other palaeognaths inferred from digital brain reconstructions. Proc. R. Soc. B 285 (1890); doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1540
- ↑ Hansford, James P.; Turvey, Samuel T. (April 2022). "Dietary isotopes of Madagascar's extinct megafauna reveal Holocene browsing and grazing guilds" (in en). Biology Letters 18 (4). doi:10.1098/rsbl.2022.0094. ISSN 1744-957X. PMID 35414222.
References
- Burney, David A.; James, Helen F.; Grady, Frederick V.; Rafamantanantsoa, Jean-Gervais; Ramilisonina; Wright, Henry T.; Cowart, James B. (1997). "Environmental change, extinction and human activity: Evidence from caves in NW Madagascar". Journal of Biogeography 24 (6): 755–767. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2699.1997.00146.x. Bibcode: 1997JBiog..24..755B. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75139/1/j.1365-2699.1997.00146.x.pdf.
- Burney, David A.; Burney, Lida Pigott; Godfrey, Laurie R.; Jungers, William L.; Goodman, Steven M.; Wright, Henry T.; Jull, A. J. Timothy (2004). "A chronology for late prehistoric Madagascar". Journal of Human Evolution 47 (1–2): 25–63. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.05.005. PMID 15288523. Bibcode: 2004JHumE..47...25B.
- Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003). "Elephant birds". in Hutchins, Michael. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2 ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 103–104. ISBN 0-7876-5784-0.
- MacPhee, R. D. E.; Burney, David A.; Wells, N. A. (1985). "Early Holocene chronology and environment of Ampasambazimba, a Malagasy subfossil lemur site". International Journal of Primatology 6 (5): 463–489. doi:10.1007/BF02735571.
Template:Palaeognathae Wikidata ☰ Q3504307 entry
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