The Kiwi’s Giant Cousin

DNA analysis has shown that the elephant bird, a massive flightless bird that once roamed Madagascar, is the closest living relative of the kiwi. This finding challenges previous theories about the evolutionary history of ratites, a group of flightless birds that includes ostriches, emus, rheas, and kiwis.

How Did They Discover This Link?

Implications for Ratite Evolution

This discovery suggests that the ancestors of ratites were able to fly and dispersed across the southern continents before the continents separated. This contradicts the previous theory that ratites were already flightless when they became isolated on different landmasses.Ancient DNA has revealed an unusual pair of closest relatives: New Zealand’s flightless, roughly chicken-sized kiwi species (skeleton of adult Apteryx australis shown) and Madacascar’s huge elephant bird (egg of Aepyornis maximus shown).KYLE DAVIS AND PAUL SCOFIELD / CANTERBURY MUSEUM

The Future of Ratite Research