Leptoptilos robustus is an extinct species of large-bodied stork belonging to the genus Leptoptilos that lived on the island of Flores in Indonesia during the Pleistocene epoch. It stood at about 1.8 metres tall and weighed up to an estimated 16 kilograms. Until recently, it was thought to have been confined to the ground, but the discovery of more bones now shows it was able to fly. Rather than a hunter of small prey, the new study suggests the bird was probably a scavenger like other prehistoric, flying storks that are known to have relied on herbivore carcasses for their meals, just like the marabou stork of sub-Saharan Africa does today.
