ArticleRoyal Society open science2018
Unexpected diversity within the extinct elephant birds (Aves: Aepyornithidae) and a new identity for the world's largest bird.
Article in Royal Society open science, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Osteohistology of two phorusrhacids reveals uninterrupted growth strategy.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Article
- Local ecological knowledge of Javan gibbon occurrence and habitat conditions in Petungkriyono, Central Java.Primates; journal of primatology · 2026Article
- Legacy of the Lost and Pressure of the Present: Malagasy Plant Seeds Retain Megafauna Dispersal Signatures but Downsize Under Human Pressure.Ecology letters · 2025Article
- Quantitative analysis of stem-palaeognath flight capabilities sheds light on ratite dispersal and flight loss.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Phylogenomics, historical biogeography, and diversification of leaf traits in the Malagasy-endemic genus Uncarina (Pedaliaceae).American journal of botany · 2025Article
- Molecular exploration of fossil eggshell uncovers hidden lineage of giant extinct bird.Nature communications · 2023Article
- The endocast of the insular and extinct Sylviornis neocaledoniae (Aves, Galliformes), reveals insights into its sensory specializations and its twilight ecology.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Dietary isotopes of Madagascar's extinct megafauna reveal holocene browsing and grazing guilds.Biology letters · 2022Article
- Egg Incubation Mechanics of Giant Birds.Biology · 2021Article
- Functional traits of the world's late Quaternary large-bodied avian and mammalian herbivores.Scientific data · 2021Article
- Correction to 'Unexpected diversity within the extinct elephant birds (Aves: Aepyornithidae) and a new identity for the world's largest bird'.Royal Society open science · 2020Article
- Useful old casts: a comment on Hansford & Turvey (2018), 'Unexpected diversity within the extinct elephant birds (Aves: Aepyornithidae)'.Royal Society open science · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Madagascar's now-extinct radiation of large-bodied ratites, the elephant birds (Aepyornithidae), has been subject to little modern research compared to the island's mammalian megafauna and other Late Quaternary giant birds. The family's convoluted and conflicting taxonomic history has hindered accurate interpretation of morphological diversity and has restricted modern research into their evolutionary history, biogeography and ecology. We present a new quantitative analysis of patterns of morphological diversity of aepyornithid skeletal elements, including material from all major global collections of aepyornithid skeletal remains, and constituting the first taxonomic reassessment of the family for over 50 years. Linear morphometric data collected from appendicular limb elements, and including nearly all type specimens, were examined using multivariate cluster analysis and the Bayesian information criterion, and with estimation of missing data using multiple imputation and expectation maximization algorithms. These analyses recover three distinct skeletal morphotypes within the Aepyornithidae. Two of these morphotypes are associated with the type specimens of the existing genera
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.