Artist's stylized impression of aM. modestus pair roosting during the day.Size comparison ofMulleornis (in pink) as well as other elephant bird species compared to a human
Mullerornis is smaller than the more well-knownAepyornis,[4][5] with a still substantial body mass of approximately 80 kilograms (180 lb).[6] A bone possibly belonging toMullerornis has beenradiocarbon dated to about 1260BP,[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 nominalMullerornis species described by Milne-Edwards and Grandidier (1894), resulting in the new combinationMullerornis modestus.[9]
Like other elephant birds and itskiwi 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 morecrepuscular habits.[10]
The eggs ofMullerornis are substantially smaller than those ofAepyornis, weighting approximately 0.86 kilograms (1.9 lb), with a shell thickness of about 1.1 mm (3⁄64 in).[6]
^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
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.Bibcode:2004JHumE..47...25B.doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.05.005.PMID15288523.
Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003). "Elephant birds". In Hutchins, Michael (ed.).Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2 ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 103–104.ISBN0-7876-5784-0.
MacPhee, R. D. E.; Burney, David A.; Wells, N. A. (1985). "Early Holocene chronology and environment ofAmpasambazimba, a Malagasy subfossil lemur site".International Journal of Primatology.6 (5):463–489.doi:10.1007/BF02735571.S2CID44449535.
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