cassowary
Southern Cassowary
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Struthioniformes Family: Casuariidae Genus: Casuarius Brisson, 1760
Species
Casuarius casuarius Casuarius unappendiculatus Casuarius bennetti This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 564 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (595 × 632 pixel, file size: 185 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). ... Families Struthionidae Casuariidae Dinornithidae Apterygidae Rheidae A ratite is any of a diverse group of large, flightless birds of Gondwanian origin, most of them now extinct. ... Genera Casuarius Dromaius For fossil forms, see article The bird family Casuariidae has four surviving members: the three species of cassowary, and the only remaining species of Emu. ... Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (April 30, 1723 – June 23, 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. ... Species Casuarius casuarius Casuarius unappendiculatus Casuarius bennetti Cassowaries (genus Casuarius) are very large flightless birds native to the tropical forests of New Guinea and northeastern Australia. ...

Cassowaries (genus Casuarius) are very large flightless birds native to the tropical forests of New Guinea and northeastern Australia. Some nearby islands also have small cassowary populations, but it is not known if these are natural or the result of the New Guinea trade in young birds. They are frugivorous; fallen fruit and fruit on low branches is the mainstay of their diet. They also eat fungi, snails, insects, frogs, snakes and other small animals. They are a keystone species of rain forests because they eat fallen fruit whole and distribute seeds across the jungle floor via excrement. For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... Flightless birds evolved from flying ancestors; there are about forty species in existence today. ... For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). ... Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as tropical rain forests, are a tropical and subtropical biome. ... A frugivore is an animal that feeds on fruit. ... For other uses, see Fruit (disambiguation). ... In nutrition, the diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ... For other uses, see Snail (disambiguation). ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Archaeognatha (bristletails) Thysanura (silverfish) Subclass Pterygota Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic) Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Superorder Exopterygota Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Embioptera (webspinners) Zoraptera (angel insects) Dermaptera (earwigs) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc) Phasmatodea (stick insects) Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Psocoptera... Distribution of frogs (in black) Suborders Archaeobatrachia Mesobatrachia Neobatrachia - List of Anuran families The frogness babe is an amphibian in the order Anura (meaning tail-less from Greek an-, without + oura, tail), formerly referred to as Salientia (Latin saltare, to jump). ... For other uses, see Snake (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Feces (also spelled faeces or fæces) are the waste products from the digestive tract expelled through the anus during defecation. ...

Taxonomy and evolution

Cassowaries (from the Indonesian name kasuari) are part of the ratite group, which also includes the emu, rhea, ostrich, moa (now extinct), and kiwi. There are three species recognized today: Families Struthionidae (ostriches) Rheidae (rheas) Casuariidae (emus etc. ... For other uses, see EMU. Binomial name (Latham, 1790) The Emu has been recorded in the areas shown in orange. ... Species R. americana R. pennata The Rhea, also known as ñandú (pronounced ) in Spanish, or ema in Portuguese, is a large flightless ratite bird native to South America. ... Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 The present-day distribution of Ostriches. ... Genera Anomalopteryx (bush moa) Euryapteryx Megalapteryx (upland moa) Dinornis (giant moa) Emeus Pachyornis Moa were giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. ... Species See text. ...

• Southern Cassowary or Double-wattled cassowary C. casuarius of Australia and New Guinea.
• Dwarf Cassowary C. bennetti of New Guinea and New Britain.
• Northern Cassowary C. unappendiculatus of New Guinea.

The evolutionary history of cassowaries, as of all ratites, is not well known. A fossil species was reported from Australia, but for reasons of biogeography this assignment is not certain and it might belong to the prehistoric "emuwaries", Emuarius, which were cassowary-like primitive emus. Binomial name Casuarius casuarius Linnaeus, 1758 The Southern Cassowary, Casuarius casuarius also known as Double-wattled Cassowary is a large, up to 170cm long, flightless black bird with hard and stiff plumage, a brown casque, blue face and neck, red nape and two red wattles hanging down its throat. ... Binomial name Gould, 1857 Distribution of the Dwarf Cassowary The Dwarf Cassowary, Casuarius bennetti also known as Bennetts Cassowary and the Mooruk is the smallest of the three species of cassowaries. ... (This article is about the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. ... Binomial name Blyth, 1860 Distribution of the Northern Cassowary The Northern Cassowary, Casuarius unappendiculatus also known as Single-wattled Cassowary is a large, up to 150cm long, stocky flightless bird with a hard and stiff black plumage, blue facial skin and a casque on top of the head. ... Biogeography is the science which deals with patterns of species distribution and the processes that result in such patterns. ...

Cassowaries are aggressive birds that nest on the ground. The Cassowary is the third largest flightless bird.

Description

The Northern and Dwarf Cassowaries are not well known. All cassowaries are usually shy, secretive birds of the deep forest, adept at disappearing long before a human knows they are there. Even the more accessible Southern Cassowary of the far north Queensland rain forests is not well understood. Slogan or Nickname: Sunshine State, Smart State Motto(s): Audax at Fidelis (Bold but Faithful) Other Australian states and territories Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Anna Bligh (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 28  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $158,506 (3rd... A rainforest is a forested biome with high annual rainfall. ...

The Southern Cassowary is the largest land creature in Australia and the second heaviest extant bird in the world after the ostrich. It is third tallest after the ostrich and emu.^[1]

Females are bigger and more brightly coloured. Adult Southern Cassowaries are 1.5 to 1.8 m (5 to 6 feet) tall, although some females may reach 2 m (6 feet 8 inches), and weigh about 70 kilograms (154 pounds). ^[1] This article is about the unit of length. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... Kg redirects here. ... Look up pound in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

A cassowary's three-toed feet have sharp claws; the dagger-like middle claw is 120 mm (5 inches) long. This claw is particularly dangerous since the Cassowary can use it to kill an enemy, disembowelling it with a single kick. They can run up to 50 km/h (32 mph) through the dense forest. They can jump up to 1.5 m (5 feet) and they are good swimmers.^{[citation needed]} This article is about the body part. ... Cat claw A claw is a curved pointed appendage, found at the end of a toe or finger or, in arthropods, of the tarsus. ... Bold text This article is about the weapon. ... Kilometre per hour (American spelling: kilometer per hour) is a unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector). ...

Detail of a Cassowary head.

All three species have a horn-like crests called casques on their heads. These consist of "a keratinous skin over a core of firm, cellular foam-like material".^[2] Several purposes for the casques have been proposed. One possibility is that they are secondary sexual characteristics. Other suggestions include that they are used to batter through underbrush, as a weapon for dominance disputes, or as a tool for pushing aside leaf litter during foraging. The latter three are disputed by biologist Andrew Mack on the basis of personal observation.^[3] However, the earlier article by Crome and Moore says that the birds do lower their heads when they are running "full tilt through the vegetation, brushing saplings aside and occasionally careening [sic] into small trees. The casque would help protect the skull from such collisions."^[2] Mack and Jones also speculate that the casques play a role in either sound reception or acoustic communication. This is related to their discovery that at least the Dwarf Cassowary and Southern Cassowary produce very-low frequency sounds, which may aid in communication in dense rainforest.^[3] This "boom" is the lowest known bird call, and is on the edge of human hearing.[4]
Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 797 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1361 × 1024 pixel, file size: 327 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Cassowary Metadata This... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 797 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1361 × 1024 pixel, file size: 327 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Cassowary Metadata This... Not to be confused with kerogen or carotene. ...

Females lay three to eight large, pale green-blue eggs in each clutch. These eggs measure about 9 by 14 cm (3½ by 5½ inches) — only ostrich and emu eggs are larger. The female does not care for the eggs or the chicks; the male incubates the eggs for two months, then cares for the brown-striped chicks for nine months, defending them fiercely against all potential predators, including humans.^{[citation needed]} In most birds and reptiles, an egg (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. ... Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 The present-day distribution of Ostriches. ... For other uses, see EMU. Binomial name (Latham, 1790) The Emu has been recorded in the areas shown in orange. ... Look up chick in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The word incubate in the context of birds refers to the development of the chick (embryo) within the egg and the constant temperature required for the development of it over a specific period. ...

Threats

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (December 2007)

Loss of habitat owing to the destruction of rainforest over the last 100 years has been the major factor in the decline of the Cassowary. For the last 20 years Mission Beach has experienced the greatest amount of lowland rainforest clearing in Australia. In the Mission Beach area alone, Cassowaries have lost about 50% of their critical habitat in the past ten years. The survival of many rainforest trees is tied to the Cassowary's survival. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ...

Traffic is another big problem. Between 1st July and 30th September 2003 one Sub Adult bird was killed by a car in the Mission Beach area despite reduced speed limits, big warning signs and recent road improvements intended to make the roads safer for Cassowaries.

Hand feeding of Cassowaries poses a big threat to their survival. In suburban areas the birds are more susceptible to vehicles and dogs. Contact with humans encourages Cassowaries to take most unsuitable food from picnic tables.

Feral pigs are a huge problem. They probably destroy nests and eggs; but their worst effect is as competitors for food, which could be catastrophic for the Cassowaries during lean times. Pigs also contaminate water sources.

Dogs chase the birds away from potential food sources in suburban areas.

Interactions with humans

The 2004 edition of the Guinness World Records lists the cassowary as the world's most dangerous bird. Normally cassowaries are very shy but when disturbed can lash out dangerously with their powerful legs. During World War II American and Australian troops stationed in New Guinea were warned to steer clear of the birds. They are capable of inflicting fatal injuries to an adult human. Usually, attacks are the result of provocation. Wounded or cornered birds are particularly dangerous. Cassowaries, deftly using their surroundings to conceal their movements, have been known to out-flank organized groups of human predators. Cassowaries are considered to be one of the most dangerous animals to keep in zoos, based on the frequency and severity of injuries incurred by zookeepers. Guinness World Records 2008 edition. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A zookeeper is a worker in a zoo, responsible for the feeding and daily care of the animals. ...

Role in seed dispersal and germination

Casuarius casuarius scat

Cassowaries feed on the fruits of several hundred rainforest species and usually pass viable seeds in large dense scats. They are known to disperse seeds over distances greater than a kilometre, and thus probably play an important role in the ecosystem. Germination rates for seeds of the rare Australian rainforest tree Ryparosa were found to be much higher after passing through a cassowary's gut (92% versus 4%).^[4] Image File history File links Kasuar_fg1. ... Image File history File links Kasuar_fg1. ... Look up scat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Ryparosa is a genus of plant in family Flacourtiaceae. ...

See also

• Fauna of Australia
• Fauna of New Guinea

The Red Kangaroo is the largest macropod and is one of Australias heraldic animals, appearing with the Emu on the Coat of Arms of Australia. ... Lesser Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea minor) The fauna of New Guinea comprises a large number of species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, invertebrates and amphibians. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b} The Cassowary Bird
2. ^ ^{a b} Crome, F., and L. Moore. 1988. The cassowary’s casque. Emu 88:123–124.[1]
3. ^ ^{a b} *Mack AL, Jones J. 2003. Low-frequency vocalizations by cassowaries (Casuarius spp.). The Auk 120(4):1062–1068 [2]
4. ^ Webber, B.L. and Woodrow, I.E. Cassowary frugivory, seed defleshing and fruit fly infestation influence the transition from seed to seedling in the rare Australian rainforest tree, Ryparosa sp. nov. 1 (Achariaceae). Functional Plant Biology 31: 505-516. [3]

• Stay in Touch, Philip Clark (ed), The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 November 1990. Cites "authorities" for the death claim.
• Underhill D (1993) Australia's Dangerous Creatures, Reader's Digest, Sydney, New South Wales, ISBN 0-86438-018-6
• Readers' Digest, June 2006 issue.

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Casuariidae

• C4 - Cassowary Conservation based in Mission Beach
• [5] The cassowary
• The Cassowary Bird
• ARKive - images and movies of the southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius)
• Cassowary videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Cassowaries in Mission Beach
• Mission Beach Cassowaries - Places to spot them