Elephant bird

Elephant Bird
Scientific classification
Kingdom Information
Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Subkingdom	Bilateria
Branch	Deuterostomia
Phylum Information
Phylum	Chordata
Sub-phylum	Vertebrata
Infraphylum	Gnathostomata
Class Information
Superclass	Tetrapoda
Class	Aves
Sub-class	Neornithes
Infra-class	Neoaves
Order Information
Superorder	Paleognathae
Order	Aepyornithiformes
Family Information
Family	Aepyornithidae
Genus Information
Genera	Aepyornis Mullerornis
Population statistics
Conservation status	Extinct

Elephant bird is the name given to two large species of extinct flightless birds endemic to the island of Madagascar. The largest bird known to have lived into historical times, the elephant bird has been claimed to have given rise to the Arabian legend of the roc.

Species

Species placement is disputed; science has in the past identified up to four species for genus Aepyornis, with a recent assessment folding all into one species, A. maximus.

• Genus Aepyornis

Aepyornis gracilis

Aepyornis hildebrandti

Aepyornis medius

Aepyornis maximus

• Genus Mullerornis

Mullerornis agilis

Mullerornis betsilei

Mullerornis rudis