Ostrich
Ostrich | |
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Montage of two living species, from left to right: common ostrich and Somali ostrich | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
Order: | Struthioniformes |
Family: | Struthionidae |
Genus: | Struthio Linnaeus, 1758[1] |
Type species | |
Struthio camelus Linnaeus, 1758
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Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Ostriches are large
Ostriches are of the genus Struthio in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, cassowaries, kiwis and the extinct elephant birds and moas. There are two living species of ostrich: the common ostrich, native to large areas of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa.[5] The common ostrich was historically native to the Arabian Peninsula, and ostriches were present across Asia as far east as China and Mongolia during the Late Pleistocene and possibly into the Holocene.
Taxonomic history
The genus Struthio was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The genus was used by Linnaeus and other early taxonomists to include the emu, rhea, and cassowary, until they each were placed in their own genera.[1] The Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes) has recently become recognized as a separate species by most authorities, while others are still reviewing the evidence.[6][7]
Evolution
The earliest fossils of the genus Struthio are from the early
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Struthio camelus egg –MHNT
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Size comparison (with a chicken egg and a US dollar bill)
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Ostrich with eggs
Distribution and habitat
Today, ostriches are only found natively in the wild in
Species
In 2008, S. linxiaensis was transferred to the genus
The species are:
- Prehistoric
- †Struthio barbarus Arambourg 1979
- †Struthio brachydactylus Burchak-Abramovich 1939 (Pliocene of Ukraine)
- †Struthio chersonensis (Brandt 1873) Lambrecht 1921 (Pliocene of SE Europe to WC Asia) – oospecies
- †Struthio coppensi Mourer-Chauviré et al. 1996 (Early Miocene of Elizabethfeld, Namibia)
- †Struthio daberasensis Pickford, Senut & Dauphin 1995 (Early – Middle Pliocene of Namibia) – oospecies
- †Struthio kakesiensis Harrison & Msuya 2005 (Early Pliocene of Laetoli, Tanzania) – oospecies
- †oospecies(?)
- †Struthio oldawayi Lowe 1933 (Late Pleistocene of Tanzania) – probably subspecies of S. camelus[23]
- †Struthio orlovi Kuročkin & Lungo 1970 (Late Miocene of Moldavia)
- †Struthio wimani Lowe 1931 (Early Pliocene of China and Mongolia)
- Late Pleistocene – Holocene
- †Struthio anderssoni Lowe 1931, East Asian ostrich (Late Pleistocene of China to Mongolia)[11][12][24] –
- †Struthio asiaticus Brodkorb 1863, Asian ostrich(Early Pliocene – Early Holocene of Central Asia to China? and Morocco)
- Struthio camelus, common ostrich
- Struthio camelus camelus, North African ostrich
- Struthio camelus massaicus, Masai ostrich
- Struthio camelus australis, South African ostrich
- †Struthio camelus syriacus, Arabian ostrich
- Struthio molybdophanes, Somali ostrich
Citations
- ^ a b Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds contained in the British Museum. London, UK: Taylor and Francis. p. 109.
- . Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ Del Hoyo, Josep, et al. Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 1. No. 8. Barcelona: Lynx edicions, 1992.
- ^ Doherty, James G. (March 1974). "Speed of animals". Natural History.
- ^ "Seagull Publishers:: K-8 segment | Books | Practice manuals". Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- ^ Gill, F.; Donsker, D (2012). "Ratites". IOC World Bird List. WorldBirdNames.org. Retrieved 13 Jun 2012.
- ^ BirdLife International (2012). "The BirdLife checklist of the birds of the world, with conservation status and taxonomic sources". Archived from the original (xls) on 25 December 2011. Retrieved 16 Jun 2012.
- ISSN 0004-8038.
- S2CID 225275210.
- ^ Doar, B.G. (2007) "Genitalia, Totems and Painted Pottery: New Ceramic Discoveries in Gansu and Surrounding Areas" Archived 2020-09-23 at the Wayback Machine. China Heritage Quarterly
- ^ .
- ^ a b Andersson, Johan Gunnar (1923). On the occurrence of fossil remains of Struthionidae in China. In: Essays on the cenozoic of northern China. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of China (Peking), Series A, No. 3, pp. 53–77. Peking, China: Geological Survey of China.
- PMID 28273082.
- ^ Donegan, Keenan (2002). "Struthio camelus". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
- JSTOR 4088425.
- ^ Rinat, Zafrir (25 December 2007). "The Bitter Fate of Ostriches in the Wild". Haaretz. Tel Aviv. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
- ^ Ostriches in Australia – and near my home Archived 2020-06-11 at the Wayback Machine. trevorsbirding.com (13 September 2007)
- ^ Rural, A. B. C. (2018-09-01). "The outback ostriches — Australia's loneliest birds". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ^ "Common Ostrich (Struthio camelus)". iNaturalist Australia. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ^ Wang, S. (2008). "Rediscussion in the taxonomic assignment of Struthio linxiaensis Hou, et al., 2005". Acta Paleotologica Sinica. 47: 362–368.
- S2CID 198384367.
- ISSN 1094-8074.
- ^ "OVPP-Struthio 8". olduvai-paleo.org.
- ^ Andersson, Johan Gunnar (1943). "Research into the prehistory of the Chinese". Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. 15: 1–300.
General references
- Andersson, Johan Gunnar (1943). "Researches into the prehistory of the Chinese". Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. 15: 1–300, plus 200 plates.
- Brands, Sheila (14 Aug 2008). "Taxon: Genus Struthio". Project: The Taxonomicon. Retrieved 12 Jun 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-7876-5784-0.
- Hou, L.; Zhou, Z.; Zhang, F.; Wang, Z. (Aug 2005). "A Miocene ostrich fossil from Gansu Province, northwest China". Chinese Science Bulletin. 50 (16): 1808–1810. S2CID 129449364.
- Janz, Lisa; et al. (2009). "Dating North Asian surface assemblages with ostrich eggshell: Implications for palaeoecology and extirpation". Journal of Archaeological Science. 36 (9): 1982–1989. .
- "Seagull Publishers:: K-8 segment | Books | Practice manuals". Seagull Learning – A Unit of Seagull Publishers Private Limited. 7.