Dromornis

Dromornis (planei (P. Rich, 1979)

Bullockornis planei (P. Rich, 1979)

Class: Aves

Order: †Gastornithiformes

Family: †Dromornithidae

Temporal range: during the Miocene (Australia)

Dimensions:height - 300 сm, weight - 500 kg

Dromornis - an extinct family of Dromornithidae, one of the largest birds in the history of the Earth. These birds belong to the order Anseriformes and were close relatives of modern ducks and geese. At the height of Dromornis stirtoni was about 3m and weighed about 500 kg. Lived in Australia, the Middle Miocene, about 6 million years ago. They were probably omnivorous.
Previously it was thought that Dromornis stirtoni and Epyornis maximus were the largest (heavy) birds in the history of the fauna. However, recently paleontologists have found a skull of a previously unknown species phorusrhacid, who was given the name Kelenken guillermoi.