Aptly named, Madagascar's
Aepyornis maximus
, or largest tall bird, stood nearly ten feet and weighed half a ton.
GEOGRAPHIC writer-photographer Luis Marden acquired two foot-long fossilized
eggs of the bird, extinct since at least the 16th century, for a
1967 article
; x-rays at the time showed an embryo inside one. Now C
omputed
T
omography
scans by Timothy Rowe of the University of Texas reveal that the second egg
also held an embryo. "We think it died a third of the way through development,
and the bones sank into a pile," Rowe says. "We can see leg, foot, and pelvis
bones, and a little of the beak." Comparison with other large birds may yield
insight into how
A. maximus
developed.
Computer reconstruction of CT scan by Richard Ketcham and Matthew Colbert, University of Texas at Austin
Check out the University of Texas' CT website for a more information.
