NATGEO  |  Animals

This monstrous mama laid the world’s largest egg

这个巨大的妈妈下了世界上最大的蛋

An intact, fossilized specimen of the world’s largest egg—of any known species ever on Earth—entered the National Geographic Society's collection in 1967.

An intact, fossilized specimen of the world’s largest egg—of any known species ever on Earth—entered the National Geographic Society's collection in 1967.

2025-02-05  256  简单
字体大小

Today researchers believe the bird resembled an oversize ostrich, though it was most closely related to the kiwi, a smaller species of ratite. Its thick legs had to support some serious weight: Adults could grow to be 10 feet tall and over 1,000 pounds. Elephant bird lineage dates to around 50 million years ago, but their numbers declined as humans settled Madagascar. What happened? Gifford Miller, a geologist at the University of Colorado Boulder who has studied Aepyornis eggshells, says human predation may have been a cause—perhaps even before the birds could hatch.

请登录后继续阅读完整文章

还没有账号?立即注册

成为会员后您将享受无限制的阅读体验,并可使用更多功能,了解更多


免责声明:本文来自网络公开资料,仅供学习交流,其观点和倾向不代表本站立场。