Elephant bird to carry off large primates; today, lemurs still retain a fear of aerial predators such as these. Another might be the perception of ratites retaining neotenic features and thus being mistaken for enormous chicks of a presumably more massive bird. The ancient Malagasy name for the bird is vorompatra, meaning "bird of the Ampatres". The Ampatres are today known as the Androy region of southern Madagascar. Like the ostrich, rhea, cassowary, emu, kiwi and extinct moa, "Mullerornis" and "Aepyornis" were ratites; they could not fly, and their breast bones had no keel. Because Madagascar and Africa separated before the ratite
Mutton Bird Island Mutton Bird Island Mutton Bird Island is an irregularly shaped unpopulated island located close to the south-western coast of Tasmania, Australia. Situated some south of where the mouth of Port Davey meets the Southern Ocean, the is the largest of the eight islands that comprise the Mutton Bird Islands Group. The Mutton Bird Island is part of the Southwest National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site. The highest point of Mutton Bird Island is above sea level. The island is part of the Port Davey Islands Important Bird Area, so identified by BirdLife International because of its importance