What type of birds are 'Ratites'?
"Carinatae Carinatae is the group of all birds and their extinct relatives to possess a keel, or ""carina"", on the underside of the breastbone used to anchor large flight muscles. Traditionally, Carinatae were defined as all birds whose sternum (breast bone) has a keel (""carina""). The keel is a strong median ridge running down the length of the sternum. This is an important area for the attachment of flight muscles. Thus, all flying birds have a pronounced keel. Ratites, all of which are flightless, lack a strong keel. Thus, living birds were divided into carinatae (keeled) and ratites (from ""ratis"","
"term ""ratite"" is from the Latin word for raft, ""ratis"", because they possess a flat breastbone, or sternum, shaped like a raft. This characteristic sternum differs from that in flighted birds, where the pectoral musculature is disproportionately large to provide the power for wingbeats and the sternum develops a prominent keel, or carina sterni to anchor these muscles. The clavicles do not fuse into a furcula. Instead, if present at all, each is splint-like and lies along the medial border of the coracoid, attached there by a coraco–clavicular ligament. There is an obtuse angle between the scapula and coracoid, and"
"such as the ostrich are farmed and sometimes even kept as pets. Ratites play a large role in human culture; they are farmed, eaten, raced, protected, and kept in zoos. Footnotes Sources Palaeognathae Palaeognathae, or paleognaths, is one of the two living clades of birds – the other being Neognathae. Together, these two clades form the clade Neornithes. Palaeognathae contains five extant branches of flightless lineages (plus two extinct clades), termed ratites, and one flying lineage, the Neotropic tinamous. There are 47 species of tinamous, 5 of kiwis (""Apteryx""), 3 of cassowaries (""Casuarius""), 1 of emus (""Dromaius"") (another became extinct"
"ranging in height from and weight . They have shaggy brown feathers. Tinamous range in size from and weigh . Many of the larger ratite birds have extremely long legs and the largest living bird, the ostrich, can run at speeds over 35 mph (60 km/h). Emus have long, strong legs and can run up to . Cassowaries and rheas show a similar likeness in agility and some extinct forms may have reached speeds of 45 mph (75 km/h). Today, the ratites are largely restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, though across the Cenozoic they were also present in Europe, North"
"Rhea (bird) The rheas () are large ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bone) in the order Rheiformes, native to South America, distantly related to the ostrich and emu. Most taxonomic authorities recognize two extant species: the greater or American rhea (""Rhea americana"") and the lesser or Darwin's rhea (""Rhea pennata""). The IUCN lists the puna rhea (""Rhea tarapacensis"") as a separate species. The IUCN currently rates the greater and puna rheas as near-threatened in their native ranges, while Darwin's rhea is of least concern. In addition, a feral population of the greater rhea in Germany appears"
"to carry off large primates; today, lemurs still retain a fear of aerial predators such as these. Another might be the perception of ratites retaining neotenic features and thus being mistaken for enormous chicks of a presumably more massive bird. The ancient Malagasy name for the bird is vorompatra, meaning ""bird of the Ampatres"". The Ampatres are today known as the Androy region of southern Madagascar. Like the ostrich, rhea, cassowary, emu, kiwi and extinct moa, ""Mullerornis"" and ""Aepyornis"" were ratites; they could not fly, and their breast bones had no keel. Because Madagascar and Africa separated before the ratite"
"ratites such as emus, ostriches, cassowaries, and kiwis, along with the extinct forms: moas and elephant birds. There are five subspecies of the greater rhea; their ranges meet around the Tropic of Capricorn: Main subspecific differences are the extent of the black coloring of the throat and the height. However, subspecies of the greater rhea differ so little across their range that, without knowledge of the place of origin, it is essentially impossible to identify captive birds by subspecies. The adults have an average weight of and often measure long from beak to tail; they usually stand about tall, with"
"this specimen to ""Struthiomimus altus""; he partly based his reconstruction of ""S. altus"" on the skull of the specimen. The remainder of the skeleton was not described until 2016. In 2016, the type species ""Rativates evadens"" was named and described by Bradley McFeeters, Michael J. Ryan, Claudia Schröder-Adams and Thomas M. Cullen. The generic name is derived from the Latin ""ratis"", ""raft"", in reference to the bird group ratites, and ""vates"", ""seer"", as the ornithomimids, as it were, foretold the future existence of the ratites they resembled. The specific name ""evadens"" means ""evading"" in Latin, referring to the ability of"
"rhea, large fast-running birds of the Pampas. The larger American rhea grows to about tall and usually weighs . 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"
"Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds. Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire first identified the elegant crested tinamou from a specimen from South America, in 1832. The elegant-crested tinamou averages long. The species is a dark or yellowish brown partridge-like bird with a short tail and wings, two white stripes on each side of its face and a long crest with an upward pointed tip. The feet have no hind toes and the bluish or greyish legs are"
"and it has an occurrence range of . It is hunted for food but its numbers seem to be consistent. Slaty-breasted tinamou The slaty-breasted tinamou or Boucard's tinamou (""Crypturellus boucardi"") is a type of tinamou commonly found in lowland moist forests of Mexico and Central America. All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also ratites. Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds. The slaty-breasted tinamou has two sub-species: Philip Sclater"
"Highland tinamou The highland tinamou or Bonaparte's tinamou (""Nothocercus bonapartei"") is a type of ground bird found in montane moist forest typically over altitude. All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also ratites. Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds. It has five subspecies: George Robert Gray identified the highland tinamou from a specimen from Aragua, Venezuela, in 1867. The specific name ""bonapartei"", a Latin genitive of the name Bonaparte,"
"Rattus The genus Rattus refers to a specific genus of muroid rodents, all typically called rats. However, the term rat can also be applied to species outside of this genus. The best-known ""Rattus"" species are the black rat (""R. rattus"") and the brown rat (""R. norvegicus""). The group is generally known as the Old World rats or true rats, and originated in Asia. Rats are bigger than most Old World mice, which are their relatives, but seldom weigh over in the wild. The genus ""Rattus"" is a member of the giant subfamily Murinae. Several other murine genera are sometimes considered"
"is often referred to as ""the kiwi"". Kiwi Kiwi ( ) or kiwis are flightless birds native to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae. Approximately the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites (which also consist of ostriches, emus, rheas, and cassowaries), and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world. DNA sequence comparisons have yielded the surprising conclusion that kiwi are much more closely related to the extinct Malagasy elephant birds than to the moa with which they shared New"
"many people. The gaucho people traditionally hunt rheas on horseback, throwing ""bolas"" or ""boleadoras"" — a throwing device consisting of three balls joined by rope — at their legs, which immobilises the bird. The rhea is pictured on Argentina's 1 Centavo coin minted in 1987, and on the Uruguayan 5 peso coin. Rhea (bird) The rheas () are large ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bone) in the order Rheiformes, native to South America, distantly related to the ostrich and emu. Most taxonomic authorities recognize two extant species: the greater or American rhea (""Rhea americana"") and the"
"can result in local extermination. Overall, there is a lack of adequate controls in place to ensure sustainable hunting, as well as insufficient resources and determination to enforce existing regulations. Tinamou Tinamous form an order of birds (Tinamiformes), comprising a single family (Tinamidae) with two distinct subfamilies, containing 47 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word ""tinamou"" comes from the Galibi term for these birds, ""tinamu"". Tinamous have traditionally been regarded as the sister group of the flightless ratites, but recent work places them well within the ratite radiation, implying basal ratites could fly. Tinamous first"
"more efficient use of energy in adulthood. The name ""ratite"" refers to their flat sternum that is distinct from the typical sternum of flighted birds because it lacks the keel. This structure is the place where flight muscles attach and thus allow for powered flight. However, ratite anatomy presents other primitive characters meant for flight, such as the fusion of wing elements, a cerebellar structure, the presence of a pygostyle for tail feathers, and an alula on the wing. These morphological traits suggest some affinities to volant groups. Palaeognathes were one of the first colonizers of novel niches and were"
"Cassowary Cassowaries (), genus Casuarius, are ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bone) that are native to the tropical forests of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and Indonesia), nearby islands, and northeastern Australia. There are three extant species. The most common of these, the southern cassowary, is the third-tallest and second-heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu. Cassowaries feed mainly on fruit, although all species are truly omnivorous and will take a range of other plant food, including shoots and grass seeds, in addition to fungi, invertebrates, and small vertebrates. Cassowaries are very shy,"
"invisible under the bristly, hair-like, two-branched feathers. While most adult birds have bones with hollow insides to minimise weight and make flight practicable, kiwi have marrow, like mammals and the young of other birds. With no constraints on weight due to flight requirements, brown kiwi females carry and lay a single egg that may weigh as much as . Like most other ratites, they have no uropygial gland (preen gland). Their bill is long, pliable and sensitive to touch, and their eyes have a reduced pecten. Their feathers lack barbules and aftershafts, and they have large vibrissae around the gape."
"Black rat The black rat (""Rattus rattus""), also known as the ship rat, roof rat or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus ""Rattus"" (rats) in the subfamily Murinae. Black rats are generalist omnivores. They are serious pests to farmers as they eat a wide range of agricultural crops. The black rat is one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, ""Systema Naturae"". It was originally described as ""Mus rattus"". Three subspecies were once recognized, but today are considered invalid. They were: A typical adult black rat is long, not including"
"Kiwi Kiwi ( ) or kiwis are flightless birds native to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae. Approximately the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites (which also consist of ostriches, emus, rheas, and cassowaries), and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world. DNA sequence comparisons have yielded the surprising conclusion that kiwi are much more closely related to the extinct Malagasy elephant birds than to the moa with which they shared New Zealand. There are five recognised species, four"
"Rail (bird) The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, although the family is found in every terrestrial habitat except dry deserts, polar regions, and alpine areas above the snow line. Members of the Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. Numerous island species are known. The most common rail habitats are marshland and dense forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation. ""Rail"" is derived from French ""râle"", from Old French ""rasle"". It is"
"the similarities between the ratite orders are partly due to convergent evolution, and that the Palaeognathae are monophyletic, but the ratites are not. Beginning in 2010, DNA analysis studies have shown that tinamous are the sister group to extinct moa of New Zealand. In the history of biology there have been many competing taxonomies of the birds now included in the Palaeognathae. The topic has been studied by Dubois (1891), Sharpe (1891), Shufeldt (1904), Sibley and Ahlquist (1972, 1981) and Cracraft (1981). Merrem (1813) is often credited with classifying the paleognathes together, and he coined the taxon ""Ratitae"" (see above)."
"Rusty tinamou The rusty tinamou or short-billed tinamou (""Crypturellus brevirostris"") is a type of tinamou commonly found in swamp forest in tropical regions of South America. The rusty tinamou is a monotypic species. All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also ratites. Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds. ""Crypturellus"" is formed from three Latin or Greek words. ""kruptos"" meaning covered or hidden, ""oura"" meaning tail, and ""ellus"" meaning diminutive."
"Neognathae Neognaths (Neognathae) are birds within the subclass Neornithes of the class Aves. The Neognathae include virtually all living birds; exceptions being their sister taxon (Palaeognathae), which contains the tinamous and the flightless ratites. There are nearly 10,000 species of neognaths. The earliest fossils are known from the very end of the Cretaceous but molecular clocks suggest that neognaths originated sometime in the first half of the Late Cretaceous about 90 million year ago. Since then, they have undergone adaptive radiation producing the diversity of form, function, and behavior that we see today. It includes the order Passeriformes (perching birds),"
"species richness and no mammalian predators, the need for large, powerful flight muscles that make for a quick escape decreases. Moreover, raptor species tend to become generalist predators on islands with low species richness as opposed to specializing in the predation of birds. An increase in leg size compensates for a reduction in wing length in insular birds that have not lost flight by providing a longer lever to increase force generated during the thrust that initiates takeoff. Ratites in general have many physical characteristics in common, which are often not shared by the family Tinamidae, or tinamous. First, the"
"""raft"", referring to the flatness of the sternum). The difficulty with this scheme phylogenetically was that some flightless birds, without strong keels, are descended directly from ordinary flying birds possessing one. Examples include the kakapo, a flightless parrot, and the dodo, a columbiform (the pigeon family). None of these birds is a ratite. Thus, this supposedly distinctive feature was easy to use, but had nothing to do with actual phylogenetic relationship. Beginning in the 1980s, Carinatae was given several phylogenetic definitions. The first was as a node-based clade uniting ""Ichthyornis"" with modern birds. However, in many analyses, this definition would"
"adoption of the name Mati, which is a general name for rats and mice recorded from the vicinity of the Peach River on Cape York. However this recommendation was not prescriptive, and it remains to be seen to what extent it will be adopted. Giant white-tailed rat The giant white-tailed rat (""Uromys caudimaculatus"") is an Australian rodent native to tropical rainforest of north Queensland, with subspecies occurring in New Guinea and the Aru Islands. It is one of the largest rodents in Australia, reaching up to 1 kg in weight, is grey-brown above, cream to white below, and has a"
"Ornate tinamou The ornate tinamou (""Nothoprocta ornata"") is a type of tinamou commonly found in the high altitude grassland and dry shrubland in subtropical and tropical regions of west central South America. ""Nothoprocta"" comes from two Greek words, ""nothos"" meaning spurious or counterfeit and ""prōktos"" meaning hindpart or tail. Experts are unsure, however, they believe that this refers to the hidden tail of this Genus behind body feathers. All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also ratites. Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved"
"Ostrich The ostriches are a family, Struthionidae, of flightless birds. Ostriches first appeared during the Miocene epoch, though various Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene fossils may also belong to the family. Ostriches are classified in the ratite group of birds, all extant species of which are flightless, including the kiwis, emus, and rheas. Traditionally the order Struthioniformes contained all the ratites. However, recent genetic analysis has found that the group is not monophyletic, as it is paraphyletic with respect to the tinamous, so the ostriches are classified as the only members of the order. There are two extant species of ostrich,"
"populations on the islands. Black rat The black rat (""Rattus rattus""), also known as the ship rat, roof rat or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus ""Rattus"" (rats) in the subfamily Murinae. Black rats are generalist omnivores. They are serious pests to farmers as they eat a wide range of agricultural crops. The black rat is one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, ""Systema Naturae"". It was originally described as ""Mus rattus"". Three subspecies were once recognized, but today are considered invalid. They were: A typical adult black rat"
"the current South American ratite lineage, the rheas. If this was the case, not only it expanded the fossil range of this lineage spatially, but temporally as well, since ""Diogenornis"" occurs in the late Paleocene and is among the earliest known ratites. The Pliocene indian ""Hypselornis"" has also been linked to emus and cassowaries, but no recent (post-30s) studies have been performed in this extremely obscure taxon. Casuariiformes (Sclater, 1880) Forbes 1884 Casuariiformes The Casuariiformes is an order of large flightless bird that has four surviving members: the three species of cassowary, and the only remaining species of emu. They"
"as near passerines. Feduccia defined the clade Neognathia as birds whose palatal mobility increased due to the following modifications (Feduccia 1980, 1996): Neognathae cladogram of modern bird relationships based on Prum, R.O. ""et al"". (2015) with some clade names after Yury, T. et al. (2013) and Kimball et al. 2013. Neognathae Neognaths (Neognathae) are birds within the subclass Neornithes of the class Aves. The Neognathae include virtually all living birds; exceptions being their sister taxon (Palaeognathae), which contains the tinamous and the flightless ratites. There are nearly 10,000 species of neognaths. The earliest fossils are known from the very end"