	Museum Victoria \| Collections & Research \| Education \| What's On


	What is a Fossil? \| Invertebrate Fossils \| Dinosaurs \| Ice Age Animals \| Victoria's Fossils

Ice Age Animals

Mihirung Birds

Mihirung Birds

Meaning:	Mihirung paringmal was a name given to giant birds by the aboriginal people of western Victoria.
Age:	~15 million to ~26,000 years ago.
Diet:	Herbivores.

Genyornis newtoni, cast skeleton at Melbourne Museum.

Photographer: Michelle McFarlane.

Source: Museum Victoria.

At least eight species of now extinct giant birds flourished in Australia over the last 15 million years. These were probably not ratites, like emus, but were more closely related to ducks, or to megapodes like pheasants and turkeys. They included the largest bird yet discovered, Dromornis stirtoni, which was 3 metres in height and weighed more that 500 kg.

The last of the Mihirungs was Genyornis newtoni, which stood about 1.8 metres high. A skeleton of this bird has been dated at 26,000 years. The specimen that is on display at Melbourne Museum is a cast based on a skeleton collected from Lake Callabonna in north-eastern South Australia.

Exhibits at Melbourne Museum:
Articulated cast skeleton of Genyornis newtoni