SINCE 1828
elephant bird
nounDefinition of elephant bird
: any of a group (genus Aepyornis or order Aepyornithiformes) of gigantic flightless ratite birds known only from remains found in Madagascar
Examples of elephant bird in a Sentence
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Only two elephant birds from Madagascar, Vorombe titan and Aepyornis maximus, beat this ancient giant in terms of size. — Jenny Howard, National Geographic, "12-foot bird lived alongside early human relatives, fossils reveal," 26 June 2019 Compared to extinct elephant birds and moas, Pachystruthio had longer, more slender leg bones, which tells us how the bird moved. — Jenny Howard, National Geographic, "12-foot bird lived alongside early human relatives, fossils reveal," 26 June 2019 Fossils of giant extinct birds are quite rare worldwide, adds James Hansford, a paleontologist with the Institute of Zoology in London who is an expert on the extinct elephant birds of Madagascar. — Jenny Howard, National Geographic, "12-foot bird lived alongside early human relatives, fossils reveal," 26 June 2019 Earlier this year, the Buffalo Museum of Science in Buffalo, N.Y. revealed that that a rare elephant bird egg in its collection had been mislabeled for decades. — James Rogers, Fox News, "Elephant bird mystery solved? Discovery may explain demise of world's largest-ever birds," 13 Sep. 2018 Analysis of bones from now-extinct elephant birds could shed new light on the fate of the giant fowls. — James Rogers, Fox News, "Elephant bird mystery solved? Discovery may explain demise of world's largest-ever birds," 13 Sep. 2018 The 40 or so elephant bird eggs that are owned by public institutions exist in varying states of completeness. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Giant, Intact Egg of the Extinct Elephant Bird Found in Buffalo Museum," 23 Apr. 2018 Leacock hopes that the newfound specimen at the Buffalo Science Museum will prove valuable to experts who are interested in the elephant bird. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Giant, Intact Egg of the Extinct Elephant Bird Found in Buffalo Museum," 23 Apr. 2018 Experts say there are fewer than 40 intact elephant bird eggs held in public institutions. — Stephen Sorace, Fox News, "Egg of extinct elephant bird was mislabeled as fake for decades, museum realizes," 25 Apr. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'elephant bird.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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