Cast of Extinct Elephant Bird. Aepyornis maximus. Madagascar. ... (Total: 8 Items)

Description

Cast of Extinct Elephant Bird
Aepyornis maximus
Madagascar

Since humans started to use their much vaunted brain power to find food and entertain themselves, certain animals have done very well hanging around us - coyotes, rats, starlings, etc. Others have ended up with the proverbial short end of the stick. Some were just slow and defenseless; Dodos for instance. Some had the misfortune of being large (impossible to hide) and evidently; tasty. Ground Sloths and Elephant Birds fell into that category. It's not all that much of a coincidence, that both of these large animals seem to have become extinct right about the time that they met up with Homo sapiens. In the case of the Elephant Bird of Madagascar, there is evidence that they survived all the way into historic times. Alleged sightings were recorded by various individuals, between the early 1400s and the 1600s.

The Elephant Bird is gone now, but from the scattered bones found by villagers scouring the bush, it is possible to determine just how big - Big Bird grew. As interest in these giants of the avian world became more serious, a drive to collect enough "parts" to reassemble a skeleton, reached the tipping point and molds were made from the various bones found over a span of years, so that ultimately a cast of a complete Aepyornis could be made.

This is that cast - the first of it's type ever to be assembled. It stands 8.5 feet (2.6 meters) high and you can easily see why hungry foragers with a spear or two would have a hard time turning down this much turkey jerky on the hoof. The articulated skeletal replica is mounted on a steel base and armature, which allows for a 360 degree viewing angle.

This auction also includes an unbroken egg that was laid by a real Aepyornis. Unbroken eggs from this species are quite rare, most eggs offered are composites, assembled as a mosaic of parts recovered from multiple localities - this one is not.
Overall Measurements: 63 x 33 x 103 inches (160 x 83.82 x 261.62 cm)

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