The family Aepyornithidae has finally been revised properly! 🙂
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Up to 15 species were accepted for some time, after the last revision about 50 years [!] ago, there were only seven species left.:
Aepyornis gracilis Monnier
Aepyornis hildebrandti Burckhardt
Aepyornis maximus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
Aepyornis medius Milne-Edwards & Grandidier
Mullerornis agilis Milne-Edwards & Grandidier
Mullerornis betsilei Milne-Edwards & Grandidier
Mullerornis rudis Milne-Edwards & Grandidier
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And now, after the latest revision [1] only four species are left, and one of them is transferred into a new genus.:
Aepyornis hildebrandti Burckhardt
Aepyornis maximus Geoffroy Saint Hilaire
Mullerornis modestus (Milne-Edwards & Grandidier)
Vorombe titan (Andrews)
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References:
[1] James P. Hansford; Samuel T. Turvey: Unexpected diversity within the extinct elephant birds (Aves: Aepyornithidae) and a new identity fort he world’s largest birds. Royal Society Open Science, 2018; 5(9): 181295 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181295
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edited: 27.09.2018