Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids

Mythic Creatures | Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids

What if birds grew to giant size?
Many stories tell of giant birds that swoop down from the sky to seize animals—sometimes even humans. Such stories are not entirely legend. Living birds such as eagles, hawks and falcons dart down to snatch snakes, fish, rabbits and other mammals. Fossils show that thousands of years ago, large birds preyed on people, and in some remote areas, they remain a threat to small children. Many mythic creatures have supernatural powers, or combine features of different animals into one. But all it really takes to turn a bird into a mythic monster is to make it larger.

The Largest Bird That Ever Lived
Seven hundred years ago, Arab traders told of a bird so huge it could lift elephants into the sky. Sailors said it lived on an island off the southern coast of Africa. In fact, a giant bird called the Aepyornis once lived on the island of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. Aepyornis is now extinct, but it was the largest bird that ever lived. It was called the elephant bird-even though it couldn't really lift an elephant. In fact, it couldn't even fly. But its large eggs helped fuel the legend of the mythical Roc.

	The extinct Aepyornis lived in Madagascar until about the 1500s and may once have been hunted by people.
	Over three meters (10 feet) tall and weighed about half a ton
	Laid the largest eggs in the world eggs, at over eight liters (two gallons)

Elephant Bird
The two greatest explorers of the 1200s and 1300s, Marco Polo, from Italy, and Ibn Battuta, who was born in what is now Morocco, both wrote that the legendary Roc lived near Madagascar. Bones and eggs have since proved that a half-ton bird called Aepyornis really did live on the island, located off the southern coast of Africa. The nickname "elephant bird" also probably comes from the Roc story. Aepyornis could not have hunted elephants because it was too small-and besides, no elephants live on Madagascar.

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