# New species of ground-dwelling bird, the largest of its kind, identified in same cave as Homo floresiensis

Source: [Biology News - Evolution, Cell theory, Gene theory, Microbiology, Biotechnology](https://phys.org/news/2026-11-species-ground-bird-largest-kind.html) · 2026-11-08 · Life
Page: https://themorning.science/story/new-species-of-ground-dwelling-bird-the-largest-of-its-kind-identified-in-same-c-bb6326fc2b26ac7e
Kind: research · Impact: low

## In brief

- A leg bone from the Liang Bua cave on Flores Island, dated to 190,000–120,000 years ago, was identified as a new species of ground-dwelling bird.
- The bone was found in 2009 and initially set aside as a bird bone, overlooked for years.
- The species is described as the largest of its kind, and it comes from the same cave where Homo floresiensis was found.

## Why it matters

The find adds to the fossil record of Flores Island and shows that bird remains in Liang Bua were overlooked, which may affect how other fossil collections are reviewed.

## Timeline

- 2026-11-08: New species of ground-dwelling bird reported as identified from Liang Bua cave

## Coverage

- [New species of ground-dwelling bird, the largest of its kind, identified in same cave as Homo floresiensis](https://phys.org/news/2026-11-species-ground-bird-largest-kind.html) — Biology News - Evolution, Cell theory, Gene theory, Microbiology, Biotechnology, 2026-11-08

Tags: paleontology, fossils, ornithology, flores, liang-bua

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science