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Re: New MANIAC book is out! -good/poor flyer
David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at> wrote:
> AFAIK, there used to be at least one more (on Vanuatu... or
> was it Fiji even?).
Yes, you're right. Fiji was home to at least two large, flightless galliforms:
_Megavitiornis altirostris_ and _Megapodius amissus_. Both were megapodes
(Megapodiidae). _Megavitiornis_ was apparently highly convergent on
_Diatryma_, although not as large.
> But the point still holds -- apparently,
> galliforms need to become island giants to lose flight, as
> Feduccia's 1996 book says.
That's certainly the case for _Sylviornis_ and _Megavitiornis_.
Cheers
Tim