Watch young David Attenborough attempt to piece together a massive broken eggshell that was given to him by locals. This rare video is a 1961 clip, titled The Elephant Bird Egg, is from Zoo Quest to Madagascar.
Attenborough uses the puzzle-like egg to discuss The Elephant Bird,Β an ostrich or emu-like flightless bird that lived on the island of Madagascar until its extinction, likely in the 17th or 18th century. How tall was it? From Wikipedia:
Aepyornis, believed to have been more than 3Β m (10 ft) tall and weighing close to 400Β kg (880Β lb), was at the time the worldβs largest bird. Remains of Aepyornis adults and eggs have been found; in some cases the eggs have a circumference of more than 1Β m (3 ft 3 in) and a length up to 34Β cm (13 in). The egg volume is about 160 times greater than that of a chicken egg.
Below, Sir David visits the Elephant Birdβs skeleton in a museum in the capital city ofΒ Antananarivo:
Watch these related videos next:Β
β’ David Attenborough on Spiders, Mortality, and Natureβs Resilience
β’Β Giant prehistoric penguins + how penguins moved from sky to sea
β’Β Why donβt birds lay βsquareβ eggs?
β’ Saving the Island Fox
β’Β The Kakapo: The worldβs only flightless parrot is a very rare bird
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