Mullerornis

= Mullerornis = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search Mullerornis is a genus of extinct elephant birds (Aepyornithidae) of Madagascar.

Contents

 * 1Description
 * 2Nocturnality
 * 3Etymology
 * 4Species
 * 5Footnotes
 * 6References

Description[edit]
Mullerornis is smaller than the more well-known Aepyornis.[2][3] A bone possibly belonging to Mullerornis has been radiocarbon dated to about 1260 BP,[4] suggesting that the animal was still extant at the end of the first millennium.[5] 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.[6]

Nocturnality[edit]
Like other aepyornithids and its close kiwi relatives, Mullerornis was nocturnal, though it shows less optical lobe reduction than these other taxa, implying slightly more crepuscular habits.[7]

Etymology[edit]
The genus is named after Georges Muller, a French explorer who was killed in 1892 by hostile members of the Sakalava people.

Species[edit]

 * Mullerornis betsilei  Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 [8] (Betsile elephant-bird)
 * Mullerornis agilis  Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894  (Agile/coastal elephant-bird)
 * Mullerornis rudis  Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 [1] (Robust elephant-bird)
 * Flacourtia rudis  (Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894) Andrews, 1895
 * ?Mullerornis grandis  Lamberton 1934  (holotype destroyed in a fire in 1995)