"ulna, a distal left ulna, a distal-end left ulna proximal, and a half right femur. When the early settlers of the Lapita culture arrived in Tonga around 1500 BC, they found only marine species such as sea turtles and giant forms of terrestrial birds such as megapodes, doves, and rails. The hunting of these bird species for food led to their rapid extinction. In New Caledonia, the giant megapode might have survived into historic times. William Anderson, a naturalist and surgeon's mate aboard during James Cook's second South Sea voyage, described a bird from New Caledonia with bare legs, which"
"Moluccan megapode The Moluccan megapode (""Eulipoa wallacei""), also known as Wallace's scrubfowl, Moluccan scrubfowl or painted megapode, is a small, approximately 31 cm long, olive-brown megapode. The genus ""Eulipoa"" is monotypic, but the Moluccan megapode is sometimes placed in ""Megapodius"" instead. Both sexes are similar with an olive-brown plumage, bluish-grey below, white undertail coverts, brown iris, bare pink facial skin, bluish-yellow bill and dark olive legs. There are light grey stripes on reddish-maroon feathers on its back. The young has brownish plumage, a black bill, legs and hazel iris. An Indonesian endemic, the Moluccan megapode is confined to hill and"
"Megadolomedes Megadolomedes is a genus of spider in the family Pisauridae. The genus contains only one species, Megadolomedes australianus, commonly known as the giant water spider. It is one of Australia's largest spiders, with a legspan of up to 18 cm. Found near creeks and ponds, it is capable of running on water. Food includes small fish, tadpoles and aquatic insects. Air is trapped on body and leg hair, allowing them to stay underwater for long periods of time. German naturalist Ludwig Carl Christian Koch described the giant water spider as ""Dolomedes australianus"" in 1865, from a specimen collected in"
"body feathers, and are able to run, pursue prey, and in some species, fly on the same day they hatch. Megapodes are medium-sized to large terrestrial birds with large legs and feet with sharp claws. The largest members of the clade are the species of ""Alectura"" and ""Talegalla"". The smallest are the Micronesian scrubfowl (""Megapodius laperouse"") and the Moluccan scrubfowl (""Eulipoa wallacei""). They have small heads, short beaks, and rounded and large wings. Their flying abilities vary within the clade. They present the hallux at the same level of the other toes just like the species of the clade Cracidae."
"Megaraptor Megaraptor (""giant thief"") is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived in the Turonian to Coniacian ages of the Late Cretaceous. Its fossils have been discovered in the Patagonian Portezuelo Formation of Argentina. Initially thought to have been a giant dromaeosaur-like coelurosaur, it was classified as a neovenatorid allosauroid in previous phylogenies, but more recent phylogeny and discoveries of related megaraptoran genera has placed it as either a basal tyrannosauroid or a basal coelurosaur. ""Megaraptor"" was initially described as a giant dromaeosaur, known primarily from a single claw (about 30 cm long) that resembled the sickle-shaped foot claw"
"Nicobar megapode The Nicobar megapode or Nicobar scrubfowl (""Megapodius nicobariensis"") is a megapode found in some of the Nicobar Islands (India). Like other megapode relatives, it builds a large mound nest with soil and vegetation, with the eggs hatched by the heat produced by decomposition. Newly hatched chicks climb out of the loose soil of the mound and being fully feathered are capable of flight. The Nicobar Islands are on the edge of the distribution of megapodes, well separated from the nearest ranges of other megapode species. Being restricted to small islands and threatened by hunting, the species is vulnerable"
"the former Neogeophilidae and Eriphantidae). Centipede Centipedes (from Latin prefix ', ""hundred"", and ', """"foot"""") are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda, an arthropod group which also includes Millipedes and other multi-legged creatures. Centipedes are elongated metameric creatures with one pair of legs per body segment. Centipedes are known to be highly venomous, and often inject paralyzing venom. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs, ranging from 30 to 354. Centipedes always have an odd number of pairs of legs. Therefore, no centipede has exactly 100 legs. A key trait uniting this"
"Megaladapis Megaladapis, informally known as koala lemur, is an extinct genus belonging to the family Megaladapidae, consisting of three extinct species of lemurs that once inhabited the island of Madagascar. The largest measured between in length. ""Megaladapis"" was quite different from any living lemur. Its body was squat and built like that of the modern koala. Its long arms, fingers, feet, and toes were specialized for grasping trees, and its legs were splayed for vertical climbing. The hands and feet were curved and the ankles and wrists did not have the usual stability needed to travel on the ground that"
"to extinction. The 2004 tsunami is believed to have wiped out populations on some islands and reduced populations on several others. Megapodes are so named for their large feet and like others in the group, this species is fowl like with dark brown plumage, a short tail and large feet and claws. The tarsus is bare with the hind toe situated on the same level as the front toes unlike those of other Galliform birds, enabling them to grasp objects better than other game birds. The tarsus has broad flat strip like scales on the front. The tail is short"
"which could reach lengths exceeding 1.5 metres (4.1 ft). Though originally described as a giant spider, a multitude of features support the classification of ""Megarachne"" as an eurypterid. Among them, the raised lunules and the cuticular sculpture (a dividing ridge continuing uninterrupted throughout the carapace) of the mucrones (median spines on the carapace) are especially important since these features are characteristic of eurypterids. ""Megarachne"" possessed blade-like structures on its appendages which would have allowed it to engage in a feeding method known as sweep-feeding, raking through the soft sediment of aquatic environments in swamps and rivers with its anterior appendage"
"the multiple threats across its range, it is likely to be suffering from a continuing decline. It seems that the only way for the species to be safe is to protect a few small islands and release a small population of megapodes there. That way, a safe population is secured. On the larger and higher islands, an increase of people and introduced pests will sooner or later destroy any megapode populations. The Marianas Island megapode or ""Megapodius laperouse laperouse"" is the nominate subspecies of the Micronesian megapode found in the Mariana Islands. It is rare, localised and in danger of"
"by then it was far too late to update the reconstructions. The scenes were left in, but the giant spider was renamed as an unspecified species belonging to the primitive spider suborder Mesothelae, a suborder that actually exists but with genera much smaller than, and looking considerably different from, the spider featured in the programme. Megarachne Megarachne is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ""Megarachne"" have been discovered in deposits of Late Carboniferous age, from the Gzhelian stage, in San Luis, Argentina. The fossils of the single and type species ""M. servinei"" have been"
"Megarachne Megarachne is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ""Megarachne"" have been discovered in deposits of Late Carboniferous age, from the Gzhelian stage, in San Luis, Argentina. The fossils of the single and type species ""M. servinei"" have been recovered from deposits that had once been a freshwater environment. The generic name, composed of the Ancient Greek μέγας (""megas"") meaning ""great"" and Latin ""arachne"" meaning ""spider"", translates to ""great spider"", because the fossil had been misidentified as a large prehistoric spider. With a body length of 54 centimetres (1.8 ft), ""Megarachne"" was a medium-sized"
"sometimes exchanged with ""megapode"". Traditionally, most have been listed as subspecies of ""M. freycinet"", but today all major authorities consider this incorrect. Nevertheless, there are unresolved issues within the genus, and for example the taxon ""forstenii"" has been considered a subspecies of ""M. freycinet"", a subspecies of ""M. cumingii"", or a monotypic species. An additional species, the Moluccan megapode, has sometimes been placed in ""Megapodius"", but today most place it in the genus ""Eulipoa"" instead. The maleo is also associated with these genera, and together the three form a group. Scrubfowl The scrubfowl are the genus Megapodius of the mound-builders,"
"""Megaladapis"". Megaladapis Megaladapis, informally known as koala lemur, is an extinct genus belonging to the family Megaladapidae, consisting of three extinct species of lemurs that once inhabited the island of Madagascar. The largest measured between in length. ""Megaladapis"" was quite different from any living lemur. Its body was squat and built like that of the modern koala. Its long arms, fingers, feet, and toes were specialized for grasping trees, and its legs were splayed for vertical climbing. The hands and feet were curved and the ankles and wrists did not have the usual stability needed to travel on the ground"
"Megalon Megalon is a bipedal, humanoid, beetle-like burrowing insect standing at 55 meters (180 feet) tall and weighing 40,000 metric tons (44,092 short tons), and the god of the subterranean nation of Seatopia. While Megalon is by no means intelligent, he makes up for it with his strength. Megalon possess two drill-like front appendages, which it uses both for burrowing and as weapons, and a set of wings usually covered by a beetle-like shell. The creature can fly at speeds of up to Mach 3, burrow underground at speeds of up to Mach 2, and swim at speeds of up"
"Île des Pins which were initially believed to be graves were found to contain no human remains or grave goods, and it has been hypothesized that they were in reality the incubation mounds of ""Sylviornis"". As these mounds are up to 5 m high and 50 m wide even after nearly four millennia, they seem too large to have been made by the giant scrubfowl (""Megapodius molistructor""), an extinct New Caledonian species of megapode. However, recent assessment of this bird as outside and not even particularly closely related to megapodes make the possibility that it was a mound-builder like them"
"Maleo The maleo (""Macrocephalon maleo"") is a large megapode and the only member of the monotypic genus ""Macrocephalon"". The maleo is endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It is found in the tropical lowland and hill forests, but nests in the open sandy areas, volcanic soils, or beaches that are heated by the sun or geothermal energy for incubation. The maleo ranges from 55–60 cm long with blackish plumage, bare yellow facial skin, reddish-brown iris, reddish-orange beak, and rosy salmon underparts. The crown is ornamented with a black helmet casque. The greyish blue feet have four long sharp claws,"
"the dusky megapode, others as a subspecies of the orange-footed scrubfowl, but is increasingly looked at as a distinct species. Biak scrubfowl The Biak scrubfowl or Biak megapode (""Megapodius geelvinkianus"") is a species of bird in the family Megapodiidae. It is found only on the islands of Biak, Mios Korwar, Numfor, Manim and Mios Numin in the West Papua region of Indonesia. This bird measures long. Its plumage is largely dark grey. It has a slight crest and a reddish or bluish face. Legs are red or dark grey. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and"
"Megaponera Megaponera analis is the sole species of the genus Megaponera. They are a strictly termite-eating (termitophagous) ponerine ant species widely distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa and most commonly known for their column-like raiding formation when attacking termite feeding sites. Their sophisticated raiding behaviour gave them the common name Matabele ant after the Matabele tribe, fierce warriors who overwhelmed various other tribes during the 1800s. At nearly in length, ""M. analis"" is one of the world's largest ants. ""Megaponera"" is a genus of ponerine ant first defined by Gustav Mayr in 1862 for ""Formica analis"" (Latreille, 1802), the sole species belonging"
"both based on the large hand claws. The cladogram shown below follows an analysis by Porfiri et al., 2014. Megaraptor Megaraptor (""giant thief"") is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived in the Turonian to Coniacian ages of the Late Cretaceous. Its fossils have been discovered in the Patagonian Portezuelo Formation of Argentina. Initially thought to have been a giant dromaeosaur-like coelurosaur, it was classified as a neovenatorid allosauroid in previous phylogenies, but more recent phylogeny and discoveries of related megaraptoran genera has placed it as either a basal tyrannosauroid or a basal coelurosaur. ""Megaraptor"" was initially described as"
"eurypterid. If the original identification as a spider would have been correct, ""Megarachne"" would have been the largest known spider to have ever lived. Eurypterids such as ""Megarachne"" are often called ""sea scorpions"", but the strata in which ""Megarachne"" has been found suggest that it dwelled in fresh water and not in marine environments. ""Megarachne"" was similar to other eurypterids within the Mycteropoidea, a rare group known primarily from South Africa and Scotland that had evolved a specialized method of feeding known as sweep-feeding in which they raked through the substrate of bodies of water in order to capture and"
"lasting damage. Amphipoda Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far described. They are mostly marine animals, but are found in almost all aquatic environments. Some 1,900 species live in fresh water, and the order also includes terrestrial animals and sandhoppers such as ""Talitrus saltator"". The name ""Amphipoda"" comes, via the New Latin """", from the Greek roots (""different"") and (""foot""), in reference to two kinds of legs that amphipods possess. This"
"Centipede Centipedes (from Latin prefix ', ""hundred"", and ', """"foot"""") are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda, an arthropod group which also includes Millipedes and other multi-legged creatures. Centipedes are elongated metameric creatures with one pair of legs per body segment. Centipedes are known to be highly venomous, and often inject paralyzing venom. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs, ranging from 30 to 354. Centipedes always have an odd number of pairs of legs. Therefore, no centipede has exactly 100 legs. A key trait uniting this group is a pair of"
"Amphipoda Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far described. They are mostly marine animals, but are found in almost all aquatic environments. Some 1,900 species live in fresh water, and the order also includes terrestrial animals and sandhoppers such as ""Talitrus saltator"". The name ""Amphipoda"" comes, via the New Latin """", from the Greek roots (""different"") and (""foot""), in reference to two kinds of legs that amphipods possess. This contrasts with"
"Wollongong. Megadolomedes Megadolomedes is a genus of spider in the family Pisauridae. The genus contains only one species, Megadolomedes australianus, commonly known as the giant water spider. It is one of Australia's largest spiders, with a legspan of up to 18 cm. Found near creeks and ponds, it is capable of running on water. Food includes small fish, tadpoles and aquatic insects. Air is trapped on body and leg hair, allowing them to stay underwater for long periods of time. German naturalist Ludwig Carl Christian Koch described the giant water spider as ""Dolomedes australianus"" in 1865, from a specimen collected"
"approximately 12,000 named species classified into 16 orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods, an arthropod group which also includes centipedes and other multi-legged creatures. Most millipedes are slow-moving detritivores, eating decaying leaves and other dead plant matter. Some eat fungi or suck plant fluids, and a small minority are predatory. Millipedes are generally harmless to humans, and can even become household or garden pests. Millipedes can also be unwanted especially in greenhouses where they can cause severe damage to emergent seedlings. Most millipedes defend themselves with a variety of chemicals secreted from pores along"
"Megalosauridae Megalosauridae is a monophyletic family of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs within the order Megalosauroidea, closely related to the family Spinosauridae. Some members of this family include ""Megalosaurus"", ""Torvosaurus"", ""Eustreptospondylus"", and ""Afrovenator"". Appearing in the Middle Jurassic, megalosaurids were among the first major radiation of large theropod dinosaurs, although they became extinct by the end of the Jurassic period. They were a relatively primitive group of basal tetanurans containing two main subfamilies, Megalosaurinae and Afrovenatorinae, along with the basal genus ""Eustreptospondylus"", an unresolved taxon which differs from both subfamilies. The defining megalosaurid is ""Megalosaurus bucklandii"", first named and described in 1824"
"Macropodidae Macropods are marsupials belonging to the family Macropodidae, the kangaroo family, which includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several others. Macropods are native to the Australian continent (mainland, Tasmania, New Guinea and nearby islands). Before European settlement of Australia, about 65 species of macropods existed. Six species have since become extinct and a further eleven have been greatly reduced in numbers. Other species (e.g. ""Simosthenurus"", ""Propleopus"", ""Macropus titan"") became extinct after the Australian Aborigines arrived and before the Europeans arrived. Although omnivorous kangaroos lived in the past, modern macropods are herbivorous. Some are browsers, but most are"
"Megafauna In terrestrial zoology, megafauna (from Greek μέγας ""megas"" ""large"" and New Latin ""fauna"" ""animal life"") are large or giant animals. The most common thresholds used are weight over or (i.e., comparable or larger in mass than a human) or over a tonne, (i.e., comparable or larger in mass than an ox). The first of these include many species not popularly thought of as overly large, such as white-tailed deer and red kangaroo. In practice, the most common usage encountered in academic and popular writing describes land mammals roughly larger than a human that are not (solely) domesticated. The term"
"Squid Squid are cephalopods in the order Teuthida with elongated bodies, large eyes, eight arms and two tentacles. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, and a mantle. They are mainly soft-bodied, like octopuses, but have a small internal skeleton in the form of a rod-like gladius or pen, made of chitin. Squid can change colour for camouflage and signalling. Some species are bioluminescent, using their light for counter-illumination camouflage. Squid are members of the class Cephalopoda, subclass Coleoidea. The squid orders Myopsida and Oegopsida are in the superorder Decapodiformes (from the Greek for ""ten-legged""). Two"
"name was ""du"". Sylviornis Sylviornis is an extinct genus of stem-galliform bird containing a single species, ""S. neocaledoniae"", or erroneously, ""New Caledonian giant megapode"". Technically, the latter is incorrect because it has recently been found not to be a megapode, but the sole known member of its own family, the Sylviornithidae; at the time of its description, it was believed to be a ratite. ""Sylviornis"" was never encountered alive by scientists, but it is known from many thousands of subfossil bones found in deposits, some of them from the Holocene, on New Caledonia and the adjacent Île des Pins. Recent"
"mountain forests on the Maluku Islands of Halmahera, Buru, Seram, Ambon, Ternate, Haruku and Bacan. It also found on Misool Island in West Papua province. The Moluccan megapode is the only megapode known to lay its eggs nocturnally. The nesting grounds are usually located in sun-exposed beach or volcanic soils. Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range and overhunting in some areas, the Moluccan megapode is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Moluccan megapode The Moluccan megapode (""Eulipoa wallacei""), also known as Wallace's scrubfowl, Moluccan scrubfowl or painted megapode, is a small, approximately 31 cm"