Mihirung
Genyornis newtoni
This giant flightless bird compared in size to the biggest of New
Zealand's extinct moas and Madagascar's extinct elephant
birds—the largest birds that ever lived. But anatomically it
is different from all other birds, including Australia's living
emus. Altogether, at least six genera and eight species of
mihirungs—which are commonly known as thunderbirds—lived
in Australia in the past 15 million years; all are extinct. What
role humans might have played in their extinction remains unknown,
although people and mihirungs did overlap. Indeed, one Aboriginal
tribe had a name for "giant emus"—mihirung paringmal. Here, a
mihirung collects pebbles from a Genyornis carcass; the
swallowed pebbles help break down food.