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Cassowaries
Cassowaries (; Biak language, Biak: ''man suar'' ; ; Papuan_languages, Papuan: ''kasu weri'' ) are flightless birds of the genus ''Casuarius'', in the order Casuariiformes. They are classified as ratites, flightless birds without a keel (bird anatomy), keel on their sternum bones. Cassowaries are native to the tropical forests of New Guinea (Western New Guinea and Papua New Guinea), the Moluccas (Seram Island, Seram and Aru Islands), and northeastern Australia.. Three cassowary species are Extant taxon, extant. The most common, the southern cassowary, is the third-tallest and second-heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu. The other two species are the northern cassowary and the dwarf cassowary; the northern cassowary is the most recently discovered and the most threatened. A fourth, extinct, species is the pygmy cassowary. Cassowaries are very wary of humans, but if provoked, they are capable of inflicting serious, even fatal, injuries. They are known to at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casuarius Casuarius
Cassowaries (; Biak: ''man suar'' ; ; Papuan: ''kasu weri'' ) are flightless birds of the genus ''Casuarius'', in the order Casuariiformes. They are classified as ratites, flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bones. Cassowaries are native to the tropical forests of New Guinea (Western New Guinea and Papua New Guinea), the Moluccas (Seram and Aru Islands), and northeastern Australia.. Three cassowary species are extant. The most common, the southern cassowary, is the third-tallest and second-heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu. The other two species are the northern cassowary and the dwarf cassowary; the northern cassowary is the most recently discovered and the most threatened. A fourth, extinct, species is the pygmy cassowary. Cassowaries are very wary of humans, but if provoked, they are capable of inflicting serious, even fatal, injuries. They are known to attack both dogs and people. The cassowary has often been labelled "the world ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Cassowary
The southern cassowary (''Casuarius casuarius''), also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary, or two-wattled cassowary, is a large Flightless bird, flightless black bird, found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and northeastern Australia. It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf cassowary and the northern cassowary. It is a ratite and therefore related to the emu, ostrich, Rhea (bird), rhea and Kiwi (bird), kiwi. The Australian population is listed as Endangered species, Endangered under federal and Queensland state legislation. Taxonomy Presently, most authorities consider the southern cassowary monotypic, but several subspecies have been described. It has proven very difficult to confirm the validity of these due to individual variations, age-related variations, the relatively few available Zoological specimen, specimens (and the bright skin of the head and neck – the basis upon which several subspecies have been described � ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dwarf Cassowary
The dwarf cassowary (''Casuarius bennetti''), also known as Bennett's cassowary, little cassowary, mountain cassowary or muruk, is the smallest of the three extant species of cassowaries. Taxonomy The scientific name commemorates the Australian naturalist George Bennett. He was the first scientist to examine these birds after a few were brought to Australia aboard a ship. Recognising them as a new species of cassowary, he sent specimens back to England, where other taxonomists confirmed his perception. On the west side of Cenderawasih Bay, western Papua, there is a distinctive form that may merit a split. ''C. papuanus'' is the tentative name. There are two recognized subspecies *''C. b. bennetti'' - found throughout New Guinea except the Vogelkop Peninsula, as well as Yapen Island and New Britain *''C. b. westermanni'' - found on the Vogelkop Peninsula A third subspecies, ''Casuarius bennetti papuanus'', may exist based on a specimen collected in 1875 of unknown origin. This ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ratites
Ratites () are a polyphyletic group consisting of all birds within the infraclass Palaeognathae that lack keel (bird anatomy), keels and flightless bird, cannot fly. They are mostly large, long-necked, and long-legged, the exception being the Kiwi (bird), kiwi, which is also the only nocturnal extant ratite. The understanding of relationships within the paleognath clade has been in flux. Previously, all the flightless members had been assigned to the order Struthioniformes, which is more recently regarded as containing only the ostrich. The modern bird superorder Palaeognathae consists of ratites and the Flying and gliding animals, flighted Neotropic tinamous (compare to Neognathae). Unlike other flightless birds, the ratites have no keel (bird), keel on their sternum—hence the name, from the Latin ('raft', a vessel which has no keel—in contradistinction to extant flighted birds with a keel). Without this to anchor their wing muscles, they could not have flown even if they ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casuariiformes
The Casuariiformes is an order of large flightless birds that has four surviving members: the three species of cassowary, and the only remaining species of emu. They are divided into either a single family, Casuariidae, or occasionally two, with the emu splitting off into its own family, Dromaiidae. The IOC World Bird List and Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World both do not recognize Dromaiidae, placing the emu in the family Casuariidae. All four living members are native to Australia-New Guinea,Clements, J (2007) but some possible extinct taxa occurred in other landmasses. Systematics and evolution The emus form a distinct branch, characterized by legs adapted for running. The total number of cassowary species described, based on minor differences in casque shape and color variations, formerly reached nine. Now, however, only three species are recognized, and most authorities only acknowledge few subspecies or none at all. The fossil record of casuariforms is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casuarius Lydekkeri
''Casuarius lydekkeri'' is an extinct species of cassowary. Description Remains attributed to the species are generally around the size of the living dwarf cassowary (''Casuarius bennetti''). Remains attributed to ''C. lydekkeri'' differ from living cassowaries in a number of morphological characters, including "a shallower, narrower pelvis, more gracile femur and a narrower proximal loser to hipend to the tarsometatarsus". Taxonomy The species was originally described by Walter Rothschild based on a partial right tibiotarsus of probable Pleistocene age. The exact provenance is unknown, and was originally reported as coming from cave deposits near Wellington in New South Wales, though this is now considered unlikely. It has alternatively been proposed that it may originate from the Darling Downs in Queensland based on its preservation. Other remains attributed to ''C. lydekkeri'' have been reported from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of Australia and New Guinea, including a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western New Guinea
Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region is also called West Papua (). It is one of the seven geographical units of Indonesia in ISO 3166-2:ID. Lying to the west of Papua New Guinea and geographically a part of the Australian continent, the territory is almost entirely in the Southern Hemisphere and includes the Biak and Raja Ampat archipelagoes. The region is predominantly covered with rainforest where traditional peoples live, including the Dani of the Baliem Valley. A large proportion of the population live in or near coastal areas. The largest city is Jayapura. The island of New Guinea has been populated for tens of thousands of years. European traders began frequenting the region around the late 16th century due to spice trade. In the end, the Dutch Empire emerged ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flightless Birds
Flightless birds are birds that cannot Bird flight, fly, as they have, through evolution, lost the ability to. There are over 60 extant species, including the well-known ratites (ostriches, emus, cassowary, cassowaries, Rhea (bird), rheas, and Kiwi (bird), kiwis) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail (length 12.5 cm, weight 34.7 g). The largest (both heaviest and tallest) flightless bird, which is also the largest living bird in general, is the common ostrich (2.7 m, 156 kg). Many domesticated birds, such as the domestic chicken and domestic duck, have lost the ability to fly for extended periods, although their ancestral species, the red junglefowl and mallard, respectively, are capable of extended flight. A few particularly bred birds, such as the Broad Breasted White turkey, have become totally flightless as a result of selective breeding; the birds were bred to grow massive breast meat that weighs too much for the bird's wings ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Moluccas
The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesia. Lying within Wallacea (mostly east of the biogeographical Weber Line), the Moluccas have been considered a geographical and cultural intersection of Asia and Oceania. The islands were known as the Spice Islands because of the nutmeg, mace, and cloves that were exclusively found there, the presence of which sparked European colonial interests in the 16th century. The Maluku Islands formed a single province from Indonesian independence until 1999, when they were split into two provinces. A new province, North Maluku, incorporates the area between Morotai and Sula, with the arc of islands from Buru and Seram to Wetar remaining within the existing Maluku Province. North Maluku is predominantly Muslim, and its capital is Sofifi on Halm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. It has Indonesia–Papua New Guinea border, a land border with Indonesia to the west and neighbours Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital, on its southern coast, is Port Moresby. The country is the world's third largest list of island countries, island country, with an area of . The nation was split in the 1880s between German New Guinea in the North and the Territory of Papua, British Territory of Papua in the South, the latter of which was ceded to Australia in 1902. All of present-day Papua New Guinea came under Australian control following World War I, with the legally distinct Territory of New Guinea being established out of the former German colony as a League of Nations mandate. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
