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单词 elephant bird
释义

elephant bird


elephant bird

n (Animals) another name for aepyornis
Thesaurus
Noun1.elephant bird - huge (to 9 ft.) extinct flightless bird of Madagascarelephant bird - huge (to 9 ft.) extinct flightless bird of Madagascaraepyornisflightless bird, ratite, ratite bird - flightless birds having flat breastbones lacking a keel for attachment of flight muscles: ostriches; cassowaries; emus; moas; rheas; kiwis; elephant birdsgenus Aepyornis - type genus of the Aepyornidae: elephant birds

elephant bird


elephant bird,

extinct, flightless bird of the family Aepyornithidae. Once native to the island of Madagascar, these gigantic birds may have survived until as late as 1649. Today, they are known only from bone specimens and a few well-preserved eggs. In appearance they are thought to have resembled monstrous ostriches, with the largest reaching heights of up to 10 ft (305 cm) and weighing perhaps as much as 1,000 lb (455 kg). Their eggs, the largest single cells in the animal kingdom, measured up to 13 in. (33 cm) in length and held a liquid content estimated at two gallons (7.5 liters). It is quite possible that the creation of the legendary roc of the Arabian Nights was based on discoveries of such eggs or even on distant memories of the elephant bird, for, if the roc legend did not originate in Madagascar, it has long been localized there by tradition. The largest of the elephant birds, Aepyornis maximus, was also the heaviest of all known birds. Elephant birds probably became extinct at the same time as the moas. Elephant birds are classified in the phylum ChordataChordata
, phylum of animals having a notochord, or dorsal stiffening rod, as the chief internal skeletal support at some stage of their development. Most chordates are vertebrates (animals with backbones), but the phylum also includes some small marine invertebrate animals.
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, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Aepyornithiformes, family Aepyornithidae.
MedicalSeeAepyornis

elephant bird


Related to elephant bird: moa
  • noun

Synonyms for elephant bird

noun huge (to 9 ft

Synonyms

  • aepyornis

Related Words

  • flightless bird
  • ratite
  • ratite bird
  • genus Aepyornis
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更新时间:2024/11/12 15:02:11