NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Ratite

A ratite is any of a diverse group of large, flightless birds of Gondwanan origin, most of them now extinct. Unlike other flightless birds, the ratites have no keel on their sternum and, lacking a strong anchor for their wing muscles, could not fly even were they to develop suitable wings. The name ratite comes from the Latin word for raft (ratis), because their breastbone looks like a raft. Flightless birds evolved from flying ancestors; there are about forty species in existence today. ... For other uses of Gondwana and Gondwanaland, see Gondwana (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into bird skeleton. ... The sternum (from Greek ÏƒÏ„ÎÏÎ½Î¿Î½, sternon, chest) or breastbone is a long, flat bone located in the center of the thorax (chest). ...

Most parts of the former Gondwana have ratites, or have had until the fairly recent past. For other uses of Gondwana and Gondwanaland, see Gondwana (disambiguation). ...

Living forms

The African Ostrich is the largest living ratite. A large member of this species can be nearly 3 meters (9.9 feet) tall, weigh as much as 159 kg (350 lbs), and can outrun a horse. // Binomial name Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 The present-day distribution of Ostriches. ...

Of the living species, the Australian emu is next in size, reaching up to 2 m (6.6 feet) tall and about 60 kg (132 lbs). Like the ostrich, it is a fast-running, powerful bird of the open plains and woodlands. For other uses, see EMU. Binomial name (Latham, 1790) The Emu has been recorded in the areas shown in orange. ...

Also native to Australia and the islands to the north are the three species of cassowary. Shorter than an emu and very solidly built, cassowaries prefer thickly vegetated tropical forest. They can be very dangerous when surprised or cornered. In New Guinea, cassowary eggs are brought back to villages and the chicks raised for eating as a much-prized delicacy, despite (or perhaps because of) the risk they pose to life and limb. 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. ...

South America has two species of rhea, mid-sized, fast-running birds of the Pampas. The larger American rhea grows to about 1.5 meters(5 feet) tall and usually weighs 20 to 25 kg (44 to 55 lbs). (South America also has 73 species of the small and ground-dwelling but not flightless tinamou family, which is distantly related to the ratite group.) South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Species R. americana R. pennata The Rhea, also known as Ã±andÃº (pronounced ) in Spanish, or ema in Portuguese, is a large flightless ratite bird native to South America. ... The pampas (from Quechua for plain) are the fertile lowlands that extend across c. ... Binomial name Rhea americana (Linnaeus, 1758) The American Rhea (Rhea americana), also known as the Gray, Common, or Greater Rhea is not only the largest species of rhea but the largest American bird, with adults averaging 30 kilograms (66 lb). ... Genera Tinamus Nothocercus Crypturellus Rhynchotus Nothoprocta Nothura Taoniscus Eudromia Tinamotis The tinamous are one of the most ancient groups of bird, members of a South American bird family of about 47 species in 9 genera. ...

The smallest ratites are the five species of kiwi from New Zealand. Kiwi are chicken-sized, shy, and nocturnal. They nest in deep burrows and use a highly developed sense of smell to find small insects and grubs in the soil. Kiwi are notable for laying eggs that are very large in relation to their body size. A Kiwi egg may equal 15 to 20 percent of the body mass of a female kiwi. The smallest species of kiwi is the Little Spotted Kiwi, at 1.2 kg (2.7 lbs) and 40 cm (16 inches). Species See text. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Species A kiwi is any of the species of small flightless birds native to New Zealand of the genus Apteryx (the only genus in family Apterygidae). ...

Extinct forms

Aepyornis, the "elephant bird" of Madagascar, was the largest bird ever known. Although shorter than the tallest moa, a large Aepyornis could weigh over 450 kg (1,000 lbs) and stand up to 3 meters (10 feet) tall. Species Aepyornis hildebrandti Aepyornis medius Aepyornis maximus Aepyornis is an extinct genus of flightless bird. ... Genera Anomalopteryx (bush moa) Euryapteryx Megalapteryx (upland moa) Dinornis (giant moa) Emeus Pachyornis Moa were giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. ...

Moa - at least eleven species in New Zealand, ranging from turkey-sized, to the Giant Moa Dinornis giganteus with a height of 3.3 meters (11 feet) and weighing about 250 kg (550 lbs)[1]. Extinct by 1500 due to hunting by human settlers, who arrived around 1000, although at least one species may have survived past this date and maybe was seen by early European settlers. Genera Anomalopteryx (bush moa) Euryapteryx Megalapteryx (upland moa) Dinornis (giant moa) Emeus Pachyornis Moa were giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. ... 1500 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Europe in 1000 The year 1000 of the Gregorian Calendar was the last year of the 10th century as well as the last year of the first millennium. ...

In addition, eggshell fragments similar to those of Aepyornis were found on the Canary Islands. The fragments apparently date to the Middle or Late Miocene, and no satisfying theory has been proposed as to how they got there due to uncertainties about whether these islands were ever connected to the mainland. Anthem: ArrorrÃ³ Capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife Official language(s) Spanish Area â€“ Total â€“ % of Spain Ranked 13th 7,447 kmÂ² 1. ... The Miocene Epoch is a period of time that extends from about 23. ...

Evolution and systematics

There are two taxonomic approaches to ratite classification: the one applied here combines the groups as families in the order Struthioniformes, while the other supposes that the lineages evolved mostly independently and thus elevates the families to order rank (e.g. Rheiformes, Casuariformes etc.). Look up taxonomy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The hierarchy of scientific classification In biological classification, family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is a rank, or a taxon in that rank. ... In scientific classification used in biology, the order (Latin: ordo, plural ordines) is a rank between class and family (termed a taxon at that rank). ...

The traditional account of ratite evolution has the group emerging in Gondwana in the Cretaceous, then evolving in their separate directions as the continents drifted apart. Cladistic analysis of morphology strongly supports this: ratites share too many features for their current forms to be parsimoniously explained by convergent evolution^{[citation needed]}. However, recent analysis of genetic variation between the ratites conflicts with this: DNA analysis appears to show that the ratites diverged from one another too recently to share a common Gondwanian ancestor, and suggests that the kiwi are more closely related to the cassowaries than the moa^{[citation needed]}. At present there is no generally accepted explanation. Also, there is the Middle Eocene fossil "proto-ostrich" Palaeotis from Central Europe, which either implies that the ancestral ratites had not yet lost flight when they were dispersing all over Gondwana - by the Middle Eocene, both Laurasia and Gondwana had separated into the continents of today - or that the "out-of-Gondwana" hypothesis is wrong. Research continues, but at present the ratites are perhaps the one group of modern birds for which no robust theory of their evolution and paleobiogeography exists. Current opinion is tentatively supporting a splitting of the group, with the Struthioniformes sensu stricto being one of the last ratite lineages to emerge. // The Cretaceous Period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic Period (i. ... It has been suggested that Clade be merged into this article or section. ... The term morphology in biology refers to the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern) of an organism or taxon and its component parts. ... Look up parsimony in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is the process whereby organisms not closely related, independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches. ... Palaeotis is a large neognath bird from the Eocene epoch Categories: | ... Laurasia was a supercontinent that most recently existed as a part of the split of the Pangaean supercontinent in the late Mesozoic era. ... Biogeography is the science which deals with patterns of species distribution and the processes that result in such patterns. ...

Gallery of Living Species

Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | Struthioniformes | Flightless birds | Living fossils Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Image File history File links Wikibooks-logo-en. ... Wikibooks logo Wikibooks, previously called Wikimedia Free Textbook Project and Wikimedia-Textbooks, is a wiki for the creation of books. ... For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). ... External anatomy (topography) of a typical bird: 1 Beak, 2 Head, 3 Iris, 4 Pupil, 5 Mantle, 6 Lesser coverts, 7 Scapulars, 8 Coverts, 9 Tertials, 10 Rump, 11 Primaries, 12 Vent, 13 Thigh, 14 Tibio-tarsal articulation, 15 Tarsus, 16 Feet, 17 Tibia, 18 Belly, 19 Flanks, 20 Breast... It has been suggested that keel (bird) be merged into this article or section. ... Flight is the main mode of locomotion used by most of the worlds bird species. ... In most birds and reptiles, an egg (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. ... Two feathers Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. ... Closeup on a single white feather A feather is one of the epidermal growths that forms the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on a bird. ... Paleornithology is the scientific study of bird evolution and fossil birds. ... Species A. lithographica Meyer, 1861 (type) Synonyms See below Archaeopteryx (from Ancient Greek archaios meaning ancient and pteryx meaning feather or wing; pronounced Ar-kay-op-ter-iks ) is the earliest and most primitive known bird to date. ... The Enantiornithes, or opposite birds (because their foot bones are fused differently than in modern birds), are an extinct group of flying birds. ... Families Enaliornithidae Baptornithidae Hesperornithidae Synonyms Odontornithes Marsh, 1873 (partim) Odontolcae Marsh, 1875 Gaviomorphae Cracraft, 1982 (partim) Hesperornithes are an extinct and highly specialized subclass of Cretaceous toothed birds. ... A bird hybrid is basically a bird that has two different species as parents. ... Prehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists. ... For a list of birds extinct in Late Quaternary prehistoric times and (usually) known from specimens not completely fossilized, see Later Quaternary Prehistoric Birds. ... The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy is a radical bird taxonomy based on DNA-DNA hybridization studies conducted in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. ... Since 1500, over 100 species of birds have become extinct, and this rate of extinction seems to be increasing. ... Blackbird (Turdus merula), singing male. ... Bird intelligence deals with the definition of intelligence and its measurement as it applies to birds. ... Flock of Barnacle Geese during autumn migration Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys of varying distances undertaken by many species of birds. ... â€œAvesâ€ redirects here. ... 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. ... A Common Cuckoo being raised by a Reed Warbler. ... Deep cup nest of the Great Reed-warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. ... Genera Tinamus Nothocercus Crypturellus Rhynchotus Nothoprocta Nothura Taoniscus Eudromia Tinamotis The tinamous are one of the most ancient groups of bird, members of a South American bird family of about 47 species in 9 genera. ... Families Anhimidae Anseranatidae Anatidae â€ Dromornithidae â€ Presbyornithidae The order Anseriformes contains about 150 species of birds in three families: the Anhimidae (the screamers), Anseranatidae (the Magpie-goose), and the Anatidae, which includes over 140 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, geese, and swans. ... Families Megapodidae Numididae Odontophoridae Phasianidae Meleagrididae Tetraonidae Cracidae Mesitornithidae The Galliformes is an order of birds containing the turkeys, grouse, quails and pheasants. ... Global distribution of Gaviidae (breeding and winter ranges combined) Species Gavia stellata Gavia arctica Gavia pacifica Gavia immer Gavia adamsii The Loons (N.Am. ... Genera Podiceps Tachybaptus Podilymbus Aechmophorus Poliocephalus Rollandia Grebes are members of the Podicipediformes order, a widely distributed order of freshwater diving birds, some of which visit the sea when migrating and in winter. ... Families Procellariidae Diomedeidae Hydrobatidae Pelecanoididae Procellariiformes (from the Latin procella, a storm) is an order of birds formerly called Tubinares and still called tubenoses in English. ... Modern genera Aptenodytes Eudyptes Eudyptula Megadyptes Pygoscelis Spheniscus For prehistoric genera, see Systematics Some penguins are curious. ... Families Fregatidae Pelecanidae Sulidae Phalacrocoracidae Anhingidae Phaethontidae For prehistoric families, see article text. ... Families Ardeidae Cochlearidae (the Boat-billed Heron) Balaenicipitidae (the Shoebill) Scopidae (the Hammerkop) Ciconiidae Threskiornithidae Cathartidae Traditionally, the order Ciconiiformes has included a variety of large, long-legged wading birds with large bills: storks, herons, egrets, ibises, spoonbills, and several others. ... For other uses, see Flamingo (disambiguation). ... Families Accipitridae Pandionidae Falconidae Sagittariidae The order Falconiformes is a group of about 290 species of birds that include the diurnal birds of prey. ... Families â€ Gastornithidae Aramidae Psophiidae Rallidae Heliornithidae Rhynochetidae â€ Aptornithidae Eurypigidae Cariamidae Otidae Gruidae â€ Phorusrhacidae The diverse order Gruiformes contains about 12 bird families with, on first sight, little in common. ... Families Thinocoridae Pedionomidae Scolopacidae Rostratulidae Jacanidae Chionididae Burhinidae Haematopodidae Recurvirostridae Ibidorhynchidae Charadriidae Pluvianellidae Dromadidae Glareolidae Stercorariidae Rhynchopidae Laridae Sternidae Alcidae Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. ... Genera Pterocles Syrrhaptes The sandgrouse are a group of 16 near passerine bird species in the order Pteroclidiformes. ... Families Columbidae The bird order Columbiformes the includes the very widespread and successful doves and pigeons, classified in the family Columbidae, and the extinct Dodo and Rodrigues Solitaire, long classified as a second family Raphidae. ... Systematics (but see below) Family Cacatuidae (cockatoos) Subfamily Microglossinae (Palm Cockatoo) Subfamily Calyptorhynchinae (dark cockatoos) Subfamily Cacatuinae (white cockatoos) Family Psittacidae (true parrots) Subfamily Loriinae (lories and lorikeets) Subfamily Psittacinae (typical parrots and allies) Tribe Arini (American psittacines) Tribe Cyclopsitticini (fig parrots) Tribe Micropsittini (pygmy parrots) Tribe Nestorini (kakas and... Families Musophagidae Cuculidae Opisthocomidae The near passerine bird order Cuculiformes traditionally included three families as below: Order Cuculiformes Family Musophagidae: turacos and allies Family Cuculidae: cuckoos Family Opisthocomidae: Hoatzin However, the taxonomy of this group is now controversial. ... For other uses, see Owl (disambiguation). ... Families see text The Caprimulgiformes is an order of birds that includes a number of birds with global distribution (except Antarctica). ... Families Apodidae Hemiprocnidae Traditionally, the bird order Apodiformes contained three families: the swifts, Apodidae, the tree swifts, Hemiprocnidae, and the hummingbirds, Trochilidae. ... Families Alcedinidae Halcyonidae Cerylidae Brachypteraciidae Coraciidae Leptosomidae Meropidae Momotidae Todidae Bucerotidae Upupidae Phoeniculidae The Coraciiformes are a group of usually colourful near passerine birds including the kingfishers, the Hoopoe, the bee-eaters, the rollers, and the hornbills. ... Families Galbulidae Bucconidae Capitonidae Ramphastidae Picidae Indicatoridae For prehistoric taxa, see text Six families of largely arboreal birds make up the order Piciformes, the best-known of them being the Picidae, which includes the woodpeckers and close relatives. ... Genera Apaloderma Euptilotis Harpactes Pharomachrus Priotelus Trogon The trogons and quetzals are birds in the order Trogoniformes which contains only one family, the Trogonidae. ... Genera Colius Urocolius The mousebirds are a small group of near passerine birds which have no clear affinities to other groups, and are therefore given order status. ... Families Many, see text A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. ... This page lists living orders and families of birds, class Aves (for extinct birds, please see Extinct birds and Prehistoric birds). ... // The following are the regional bird lists by continent. ... Bird ringing (also known as bird banding) is an aid to studying wild birds, by attaching a small individually numbered metal or plastic ring to their legs or wings, so that various aspects of the birds life can be studied by the ability to re-find the same individual... Ornithology (from the Greek ornis = bird and logos = word/science) is the branch of zoology concerned with the scientific study of birds. ... Marbled Godwit, Limosa fedoa, prepared as a skin (shmoo), skeleton, and spread wing Bird collections are curated repositories of scientific specimens consisting of birds and their parts. ... Birdwatching or birding is the observation and study of birds. ... Information in this article or section has not been verified against sources and may not be reliable. ... The extinction of the Dusky Seaside Sparrow was caused by habitat loss. ... Aviculture is the practice of keeping and often breeding pet birds, generally companion parrots, and the culture that forms around it. ...

Contents

Living forms GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Extinct forms

Evolution and systematics

Gallery of Living Species

Living forms