Editing Elephant bird (section)

=== Diet ===
A 2022 isotope analysis study suggested that some specimens of ''Aepyornis'' ''hildebrandti'' were mixed feeders that had a large (~48%) [[Grazing (behaviour)|grazing]] component to their diets, similar to that of the living ''[[Rhea americana]]'', while the other species (''A. maximus'', ''Mullerornis modestus'') were probably [[Browsing (herbivory)|browsers]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hansford |first1=James P. |last2=Turvey |first2=Samuel T. |date=April 2022 |title=Dietary isotopes of Madagascar's extinct megafauna reveal Holocene browsing and grazing guilds |journal=Biology Letters |language=en |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=20220094 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2022.0094 |issn=1744-957X |pmc=9006009 |pmid=35414222}}</ref> It has been suggested that ''Aepyornis'' straightened its legs and brought its torso into an erect position in order to browse higher vegetation.<ref name=":6" /> Some rainforest fruits with thick, highly sculptured [[endocarp]]s, such as that of the currently undispersed and highly threatened [[forest coconut]] palm (''Voanioala gerardii''), may have been adapted for passage through ratite guts and consumed by elephant birds, and the fruit of some palm species are indeed dark bluish-purple (e.g., ''[[Ravenea louvelii]]'' and ''[[Satranala decussilvae]]''), just like many cassowary-dispersed fruits, suggesting that they too may have been eaten by elephant birds.<ref>Dransfield, J. & Beentje, H. (1995)</ref>