Elephant bird Elephant bird Elephant birds are members of the extinct ratite family Aepyornithidae, made up of large to enormous flightless birds that once lived on the island of Madagascar. They became extinct, perhaps around 1000–1200 CE, for reasons that are unclear, although human activity is the suspected cause. Elephant birds comprised the genera "Mullerornis", "Vorombe" and "Aepyornis". While they were in close geographical proximity to the ostrich, their closest living relatives are kiwi, suggesting that ratites did not diversify by vicariance during the breakup of Gondwana but instead evolved from ancestors that dispersed more recently by flying. In September 2018, scientists
Morfil Island the island, but are now locally extinct. The French colonists would use the island for elephant hunting. The main towns on the island are Podor and Salde. Morfil Island Morfil Island (; lit. "Ivory Island") is an island lying between the River Senegal and the Doué River in northern Senegal. "Morfil" is an antiquated French term for raw ivory. It is separate from the mainland for almost 150 km. Around the 11th century, Morfil was the centre of Tekrur, one of the first Islamic Sub-Saharan states. As such, it was an important centre of trans-Saharan trade. The island later became