Elephant bird egg

The part of an egg shell of the extinct elephant bird (Aepyornis spec.). This bird went extinct about 400 years ago, but the egg remnants can still be found on some beaches in southwest Madagascar. The Aepyornis egg was the largest known animal cell.

Beach near Anakao

And of course collecting it is forbidden.

@EM, and I totally agree with that, allthough many people take a piece of shell with them. It is strictly forbidden, but if every tourist would take a shell, then there are none left in a few years and nobody can enjoy them anymore. You almost cannot come any closer to Madagascars extinct megafauna than this and I wish many more people the same experience.

I saw a David Attenborough documentary recently about Elephant Birds, and he showed a clip of him collecting large fragments of an egg and taking them back to the UK where they were glued back together. The clip was from a Zoo Quest series, so would have been over 50 years old. Then he showed the egg, which he still has today. It was very impressive. They also showed the egg fragments scattered throughout a desert, there were millions of them. The elephant bird story was fascinating, and one of the most interesting documentaries I've seen recently.