Malagasy crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus mahery)

Malagasy crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus mahery Goodman, 1994)

Class: Aves

Order: Accipitriformes

Family: Accipitridae

Genus: Stephanoaetus

Time period: that inhabited Madagascar until 1500 AD

Size: 110 cm in height, 3,5 - 7 kg of weight, the wingspan typically ranges - 1.5 - 2m

The Malagasy crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus mahery), also known as the Madagascar crowned hawk-eagle, was a large bird of prey, comparable in size to the African crowned eagle, that inhabited Madagascar until 1500 AD. It probably fed on lemurs. The raptor avoidance behaviour exhibited by contemporary lemurs may have originated in part in response to this and another now extinct Malagasy Aquila eagle (extant Malagasy raptors appear to be a threat primarily to juvenile members of the large diurnal lemur species).

It was perhaps an apex predator of the Malagasy forests along with the giant fossa and the two species of crocodile. It likely became extinct due to human overhunting of its prey. It has been proposed that this bird, combined with elephant bird eggs, are the source of sightings of the Rukh.

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