Malagasy crowned eagle

Malagasy crowned eagle Temporal range: Holocene
Conservation status
Extinct (1500)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Accipitriformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Genus:	Stephanoaetus
Species:	†S. mahery
Binomial name
†Stephanoaetus mahery Goodman, 1994

The Malagasy crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus mahery),^[1] also known as the Madagascar crowned hawk-eagle, is an extinct large bird of prey endemic to Madagascar.

It has been proposed that this bird, combined with elephant bird eggs, were the source of sightings of the mythical Roc.^[2]

Description

It may have been comparable in average size to the related African crowned eagle, but possibly slightly larger, with the largest female weights estimated at up to 7 kg (15 lb), or about the size of a large female golden eagle.^[3]

Ecology

It probably fed on lemurs. The raptor avoidance behaviour exhibited by contemporary adult lemurs may have originated in response to this (and another now-extinct Malagasy Aquila) eagle; extant Malagasy raptors appear to be a threat primarily to juvenile members of the large diurnal lemur species.^[3][4]

It was perhaps an apex predator of the Malagasy forests, along with the giant fossa and the Voay crocodile. It likely became extinct in the 16th century due to human overhunting of its prey.^[5]

See also

• Haast's eagle, another large island eagle species that became extinct after the arrival of humans

References

1. Goodman, Steven M. (1994). "Description of a new species of subfossil eagle from Madagascar: Stephanoaetus (Aves: Falconiformes) from the deposits of Ampasambazimba". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (107): 421–428.
2. Hume, Julian P.; Walters, Michael (2012). Extinct birds. Vol. 217. A & C Black (Poyser Imprint). pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-1-4081-5725-1.
3. Wright, P. C. (June 1998). "Impact of Predation Risk on the Behaviour of Propithecus diadema edwardsi in the Rain Forest of Madagascar". Behaviour. 135 (4). Brill Publishers: 483–512. doi:10.1163/156853998793066186. JSTOR 4535540.
4. Goodman, S. M. (1994). "The enigma of antipredator behavior in lemurs: evidence of a large extinct eagle on Madagascar". International Journal of Primatology. 15 (1). Springer: 129–134. doi:10.1007/BF02735238. S2CID 6129168.
5. Feduccia, A. (1999). The Origin and Evolution of Birds (2nd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07861-7.

External links

• Endangered Species Handbook (Madagascar)