Giant extinct megapode identified from a single bone in Flores cave

Giant extinct megapode identified from a single bone in Flores cave

Giant extinct megapode identified from a single bone in Flores cave

Scientists have identified a new extinct megapode bird, named Megapodius rokusi, from a single partial leg bone found in Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. The bird weighed about 3.9 kilograms, several times more than the orange-footed megapode living on Flores today, making it the largest known species in its genus. The bone came from sediments dated to roughly 190,000 to 120,000 years ago, and it is the first fossil megapode described from Wallacea, the island region between Asia and Australia. With no wing bones recovered, researchers cannot yet tell whether the giant bird could fly.

Scientists have identified a new extinct megapode bird, named Megapodius rokusi, from a single partial leg bone found in Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. The bird weighed about 3.9 kilograms, several times more than the orange-footed megapode living on Flores today, making it the largest known species in its genus. The bone came from sediments dated to roughly 190,000 to 120,000 years ago, and it is the first fossil megapode described from Wallacea, the island region between Asia and Australia. With no wing bones recovered, researchers cannot yet tell whether the giant bird could fly.

Scientists have identified a new extinct megapode bird, named Megapodius rokusi, from a single partial leg bone found in Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. The bird weighed about 3.9 kilograms, several times more than the orange-footed megapode living on Flores today, making it the largest known species in its genus. The bone came from sediments dated to roughly 190,000 to 120,000 years ago, and it is the first fossil megapode described from Wallacea, the island region between Asia and Australia. With no wing bones recovered, researchers cannot yet tell whether the giant bird could fly.