Julian Hume from the Natural History Museum in London and Christian Robertson, a historian working on King Island in Tasmania In their studies A rare find has been described, reports Phys.org. Experts have found a completely healthy egg from an already extinct dwarf.
The flightless emu is found in Australia and the surrounding islands and is the second largest living bird after the ostrich. Previous studies revealed that at least three islands along Australia’s southern coast were inhabited by many dwarf dead, which disappeared shortly after the arrival of Europeans. Separate species of emu are also found in Tasmania, Kangaroo Island and King Island, with bird sizes dropping on each island due to limited resources. Of the species, the King Island, or the so-called Black emu, was the smallest: it grew to a height of only 1 meter and weighed almost half the weight of the Australian Economic and Social Union.
Not much is known about the previous birds due to their sudden extinction, but several eggs were found in Tasmania and one on Kangaroo Island, and the study helped identify the lost animals. This is the first time a King Island emu egg has been identified.
Eggs were extracted in the sand dunes. Investigations soon revealed that the remains were in perfect condition, which gave researchers good quality samples. Surprisingly, the eggs of this species were nearly as large as the eggs of the Australian EMU, and experts believe that it was an advantage in the island’s unfavorable environment for the chicks to remain in eggs for a longer period.
