UW News
October 13, 2005
Mighty duck comes to the Burke
Arn Slettebak, exhibit curator for the Burke Museum, with the cast of Dromornis stirtoni, a huge duck now 30,000 years extinct.
The fossil cast of one of the largest birds that ever lived was installed at the Burke Museum this week. The museum has acquired a cast of the fossil bird known as Dromornis stirtoni, and it will be the first one ever displayed in the United States.
Dromornis stirtoni roamed Central Australia more than 8 million years ago and grew to a height of over 9 feet. The common name for this group of extinct birds is Mihirungs, an Aboriginal word meaning giant emu. Mihirungs were a unique group of Australian flightless birds also known as “thunderbirds” and were derived from early waterfowl (ducks, geese, and swans). The last of their kind became extinct about 30,000 years ago.
