Magnificent Mihirungs: The Colossal Flightless Birds of the Australian Dreamtime

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Over millions of years, Australia's unique biodiversity has produced alarge cabinet of curiosities. Among the weirder members of this group were theMihirungs, members of the now extinct family Dromornithidae. Made up of severalgenera of flightless birds -- among them one of the very largest birds that everlived -- the dromornithids ranged from 60-kilogram beasts, 1.5 meters tall, togiants twice that size, weighing nearly half a metric ton. They were, by orders ofmagnitude, the largest "geese" that ever lived. One species was comparablein size to the Ele-phantbird of Madagascar and the Giant Moa of New Zealand. Thisbook is the first major study of this unique and highly diverse group. It aims topresent as complete a synthesis as possible of current information about thisfascinating family of birds.