DOI: 10.5061/dryad.7519042
title: Data from: Nocturnal giants: evolution of the sensory ecology in elephant birds and other palaeognaths inferred from digital brain reconstructions

description: The recently-extinct Malagasy elephant birds (Palaeognathae,
 Aepyornithiformes) included the largest birds that ever lived. Elephant
 bird neuroanatomy is understudied but can shed light on the lifestyle of
 these enigmatic birds. Paleoneurological studies can provide clues to the
 ecologies and behaviors of extinct birds because avian brain shape is
 correlated with neurological function. We digitally reconstruct endocasts
 of two elephant bird species, Aepyornis maximus and A. hildebrandti, and
 compare them with representatives of all major extant and recently-extinct
 palaeognath lineages. Among palaeognaths, we find large olfactory bulbs in
 taxa generally occupying forested environments where visual cues used in
 foraging are likely to be limited. We detected variation in olfactory bulb
 size among elephant bird species, possibly indicating interspecific
 variation in habitat. Elephant birds exhibited extremely reduced optic
 lobes, a condition also observed in the nocturnal kiwi. Kiwi, the sister
 taxon of elephant birds, have effectively replaced their visual systems
 with hyperdeveloped olfactory, somatosensory and auditory systems useful
 for foraging. We interpret these results as evidence for nocturnality
 among elephant birds. Vision was likely deemphasized in the ancestor of
 elephant birds and kiwi. These results show a previously unreported trend
 toward decreased visual capacity apparently exclusive to flightless,
 nocturnal taxa endemic to predator-depauperate islands.
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