Details

LOT 1731

Natural History - Giant Elephant Bird Eggshell Group

PLEISTOCENE PERIOD, 2.6 MILLION-11,700 YEARS B.P.

5 1/4 x 6 1/8 in. (221 grams total, 13.5 x 15.7 cm including case).

A group of two eggshell sections from the Giant Elephant Bird Aepyornis sp.; supplied in a display case. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From Madagascar.
Acquired 1950s-1960s.
From an old Bristol, UK, paleontological collection.
Property of a Leicestershire, UK, private collector.
Accompanied by an identification slip.

Literature

See Fuller, E., Extinct Birds, Oxford University Press, 2000; see also Lucien, M. A., Rakotozafy et Goodman, S.M., Contribution à l'étude zooarchéologique de la région du Sud-Ouest et extême Sud de Madagascar sur la base des collections de l'ICMAA de l'université d'Antananarivo; and Milne Edwards, A., Masson, G., Research on the Extinct Ornothological Fauna of the Island of Madagascar, 1866, for information on these birds.

Footnotes

Elephant bird was a gigantic, flightless bird, measuring nearly 10 feet in height, and lived on the island of Madagascar until it became extinct, possibly as late as the 17th century.