Ancient Giant Megapode Bird Unearthed in Indonesian Cave Fossil

A newly identified extinct bird species, Megapodius rokusi, was discovered from a single leg bone fragment in a cave on Flores Island, Indonesia. Weighing nearly 4 kilograms—several times heavier than its modern relative—it represents the first fossil megapode found in Wallacea, an island region between Asia and Australia. The discovery sheds light on ancient bird distributions and honors Indonesian zoologist Rokus Due Awe for his contributions to paleontological research.

A single fossilized leg bone fragment discovered in 2009 at Liang Bua cave on Flores Island, Indonesia, has led to the identification of a new extinct megapode species, Megapodius rokusi, dating to between 190,000 and 120,000 years ago. This ancient bird weighed nearly 3.9 kilograms—several times heavier than its modern relative, the orange-footed megapode (Megapodius reinwardt), which weighs only 0.5 to 1.2 kg. The fossil, a lower tarsometatarsus, is larger than that of any known living or extinct Megapodius species and marks the first fossil megapode ever described from Wallacea, the biogeographical region between mainland Asia and Australia. This area is notable for its unique distribution patterns, with modern megapodes absent from mainland Southeast Asia and the Greater Sunda Islands, likely due to competition, predation by mammalian carnivores, or historical dispersal barriers. The discovery of M. rokusi in this region challenges previous assumptions about the geographic limits of the group and suggests a more complex evolutionary history than previously recognized.

The species is named in honor of Indonesian zoologist Rokus Due Awe, who was instrumental in identifying the hominin remains that led to the discovery of Homo floresiensis in 2003. He was the first to correctly interpret the fossil bones as belonging to a human ancestor, a pivotal moment in paleoanthropology. The naming of M. rokusi after him marks the first time an Indonesian researcher has been honored