Translingual

Alternative forms

• Æpyornis

Noun

†Aepyornis m

1. A taxonomic genus within the family Aepyornithidae – elephant birds, large, extinct birds of Madagascar.
   • 1919 June 6, WM. C. Bradbury, “Some notes on the egg of Aepyornis maximus”, in The Condor, volume 21, page 100:

     Calculations in displacement show the Aepyornis egg to be equivalent to each of the following number of eggs of modern species […]

   • 1994, Gerald Durrell, The Aye-Aye and I, page 6:

     Although enormous, the Aepyornis was incapable of treating elephants in this cavalier fashion - even baby elephants - since, like the ostrich, it could not fly.

   • 2014, Nicolae Sfetcu, The Birds World:

     Whilst it is often believed that the extinction of the Aepyornis was an effect of human actions, a study in 2000, by a team of archaeologists from Sheffield University and Royal Holloway University in the UK, suggests otherwise.

References

• "aepyornis." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002.