| Giant Swan Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene |
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|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
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Fossil
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Anseriformes |
| Family: | Anatidae |
| Genus: | Cygnus |
| Species: | C. falconeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Cygnus falconeri Parker, 1865[1] |
|
Cygnus falconeri, the Giant Swan, was a very large Siculo-Maltese swan known from the Middle Pleistocene. Its dimensions are described as exceeding those of the living Mute Swan by one-third,[2] which would give a bill-to-tail length of about 190–210 cm (based on 145–160 cm for C. olor[3]). It would have been taller, though not heavier, than the region's dwarf elephants. Due to its size, it may have been flightless.[4] It became extinct before the increase in human activity in the region (see Holocene extinction event), so its disappearance is thought to have resulted from extreme climate fluctuations or the arrival of superior predators and competitors.[5]