Giant swan

## Cygnus falconeri

Credit: Nix Illustration.

The giant/Maltese swan (*Cygnus falconeri*) is an extinct species of swan that lived in Malta and Sicily during the Middle Pleistocene.

## History

*C. falconeri* were originally placed in the genus *Palaeocycnus*.

In 2016, additional remains were recovered from a box at Ghar Dalam Cave and Museum that contained excavated contents recovered at Brumeghez Fissure by J.G. Baldacchino in the late 1930s. More remains were subsequently recovered from old storage rooms. These were prepared, measured and cataloged.

## Description

The giant swan would have been taller but not heavier than one of it's prey items, *Palaeoloxodon falconeri*. The birds fossils are housed from the Għar Dalam museum in Birżebbuġa, Malta. It may have resembled the whooper swan. In 1980, the majority of the foot and the frontal cranium were first described. With these new and existing materials, the most current and well-accepted size estimate was reached based on extant *Cygnus sp.*. Shorter toes and reduced webbing disallowed effective swimming. It was one of the largest terrestrial herbivores of Siculo-Malta, and was likely a grazer that could also reach heights higher than the elephants or tortoises it was contemporaneous with.

## Classification

~5.3 million years ago, Sicily experienced a sea strait between it and Italy due to sea level changes and tectonic uplift. This eventually led to Malta connecting occasionally, which allowed many strange species to evolve over different times. *C. falconeri*, 900,000-500,000 years ago, coexisted with tiny elephants, giant owls, small long-legged owls, giant cranes, large lizards, otters, giant tortoises and giant dormice. It and *Cygnus equitum* evolved from a whooper swan-like ancestor from separate colonization events. If this were not the case, interbreeding would have reduced the size gap, which is obviously false. *Cygnus equitum* likely went extinct shortly after *C. falconeri* did[*citation needed*].

## Paleoecology

Analyses show the giant swan was well adapted to walking but had lost all or most of its ability to fly. The Last Interglacial produced diverse herbaceous flora in Siculo/Malta. This is suggested due to many large herbivorous mammals found in the same environment, with a lack of competition likely resulting in increased size, with dispersal mechanisms such as flight becoming obsolete. Large size, terrestrial characters in the feet, legs and salt glands and limited flight suggest a prolonged plant supply in the inland, and in-turn, probably no large predators. The swan became extinct before humans inhabited the region, likely due to climate fluctuations and competition from introduced predators.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.theswansanctuary.org.uk/cause/giant-maltese-swan-cygnus-falconeri-or-palaeocycnus/
2. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/Ghar-Dalam-Cave-and-Museum-1514877375399414/photos/cygnus-falconeri-the-giant-extinct-swan-of-the-maltese-quaternary-bones-belongin/1749455155274967
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus\_falconeri
4. ↑ https://nixillustration.com/science-illustration/2019/island-weirdness-57-cygnus-falconeri/
5. ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1982.tb03753.x