Struthio
Encyclopedia
Struthio is a genus
of bird
in the order
Struthioniformes.
s have been found. They are:
Fossil records and egg shell fragments show that the ancestors of this genus originated about 40-58 million years ago (mya) in the Asia
tic steppe
s as small flightless birds. By about 12 mya they had evolved into the larger size of which we are familiar. By this time they had spread to Mongolia
and, later, South Africa
.
, Rhea
, and also the Cassowary
, until they each were placed in their own genera.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Struthioniformes.
Species
There are ten known species from this genus, of which eight are extinct. There are five more possible species of which trace fossilFossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s have been found. They are:
- †Struthio coppensiStruthio coppensiStruthio coppensi is an extinct species of ratite bird from the Miocene of Namibia....
(Early Miocene of Elizabethfeld, Namibia) - †Struthio linxiaensisStruthio linxiaensisStruthio linxiaensis is an extinct species of ratite from the Miocene of China....
(Liushu Late Miocene of Yangwapuzijifang, China) - †Struthio orloviStruthio orloviStruthio orlovi is an extinct species of ratite bird from the Miocene of Moldavia....
(Late Miocene of Moldavia) - †Struthio karingarabensis (Late Miocene - Early Pliocene of SW and CE Africa) - oospeciesTrace fossil classificationTrace fossils are classified in various ways for different purposes. Traces can be classified taxonomically , ethologically , and toponomically, that is, according to their relationship to the surrounding sedimentary layers...
(?) - †Struthio kakesiensis (Laetolil Early Pliocene of Laetoli, Tanzania) - oospeciesTrace fossil classificationTrace fossils are classified in various ways for different purposes. Traces can be classified taxonomically , ethologically , and toponomically, that is, according to their relationship to the surrounding sedimentary layers...
- †Struthio wimaniStruthio wimaniStruthio wimani is an extinct species of ratite bird from the Pliocene of China....
(Early Pliocene of China and Mongolia) - †Struthio daberasensis (Early - Middle Pliocene of Namibia) - oospeciesTrace fossil classificationTrace fossils are classified in various ways for different purposes. Traces can be classified taxonomically , ethologically , and toponomically, that is, according to their relationship to the surrounding sedimentary layers...
- †Struthio brachydactylus (Pliocene of Ukraine)
- †Struthio chersonensis (Pliocene of SE Europe to WC Asia) - oospeciesTrace fossil classificationTrace fossils are classified in various ways for different purposes. Traces can be classified taxonomically , ethologically , and toponomically, that is, according to their relationship to the surrounding sedimentary layers...
- †Struthio asiaticus, Asian Ostrich (Early Pliocene - Late Pleistocene of Central Asia to China ?and Morocco)
- †Struthio dmanisensisGiant OstrichStruthio dmanisensis, is an extinct Eurasian species of ratite ostrich which lived in the Late Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene of Georgia....
, Giant Ostrich (Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene of DmanisiDmanisiDmanisi is a townlet and archaeological site in Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia approximately 93 km southwest of the nation’s capital Tbilisi in the river valley of Mashavera.- History :...
, Georgia) - †Struthio oldawayi (Early Pleistocene of Tanzania) - probably subspecies of S. camelus
- †Struthio anderssoni - oospeciesTrace fossil classificationTrace fossils are classified in various ways for different purposes. Traces can be classified taxonomically , ethologically , and toponomically, that is, according to their relationship to the surrounding sedimentary layers...
(?) - Struthio camelus, Common Ostrich
- Struthio molybdophanes, Somali Ostrich
Fossil records and egg shell fragments show that the ancestors of this genus originated about 40-58 million years ago (mya) in the Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
tic steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
s as small flightless birds. By about 12 mya they had evolved into the larger size of which we are familiar. By this time they had spread to Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
and, later, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Evolution
The genus Struthio used to include the EmuEmu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
, Rhea
Rhea (bird)
The rheas are ratites in the genus Rhea, native to South America. There are two existing species: the Greater or American Rhea and the Lesser or Darwin's Rhea. The genus name was given in 1752 by Paul Möhring and adopted as the English common name. Möhring's reason for choosing this name, from the...
, and also the Cassowary
Cassowary
The cassowaries are ratites, very large flightless birds in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and northeastern Australia. There are three extant species recognized today...
, until they each were placed in their own genera.