Dromornis stirtoni

Stirton’s thunder bird

Dromornis stirtoni is an extinct dromornithid known only from the Miocene aged Alcoota fossil beds of central Australia. It is one of the more commonly found members of the Alcoota Local Fauna. Recent body mass estimates revealed sexual dimorphism within this species, with males weighing around 530 kg, and females weighing around 450 kgs. The specimens included here come from the only articulated set of Dromornithid stirtoni legs known. This specimen is affectionately known as Deb.

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Specimen number: NTM P13331
Geological age: late Miocene
State/territory: Northern Territory
Locality/site: Classy Corner, Alcoota

Skeletal element: tibiotarsus (left)

Skeletal element: tarsometatarsus (left)

Skeletal element: fibula (left)

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Articulated legs NTM P13331

Left: tibiotarsus | fibula | tarsometatarsus | lateral phalanx 1 | lateral phalanx 2 | lateral phalanx 3 | lateral phalanx 4 | middle phalanx 1 |  middle phalanx 2 | middle phalanx 4 | medial phalanx 1

Right: tarsometatarsus | middle phalanx 1 |  middle phalanx 2 | middle phalanx 3 | middle phalanx 4 | medial phalanx 1 | medial phalanx 2 | medial phalanx 3

Endocasts (not this specimen)