Everything about Cassowaries totally explained
Cassowaries (
genus Casuarius) are very large
flightless birds native to the
tropical forests of
New Guinea and northeastern
Australia. Some nearby islands also have small cassowary populations, but it isn't known if these are natural or the result of the New Guinea trade in young birds. They are
frugivorous; fallen
fruit and fruit on low branches is the mainstay of their
diet. They also eat
fungi,
snails,
insects,
frogs,
snakes and other small animals. They are a
keystone species of rain forests because they eat fallen fruit whole and distribute seeds across the jungle floor via
excrement.
Taxonomy and evolution
Cassowaries (from the
Indonesian name
kasuari) are part of the
ratite group, which also includes the
emu,
rhea,
ostrich,
moa (now extinct), and
kiwi. There are three species recognized today:
The evolutionary history of cassowaries, as of all ratites, isn't well known. A fossil species was reported from Australia, but for reasons of
biogeography this assignment isn't certain and it might belong to the prehistoric "emuwaries",
Emuarius, which were cassowary-like primitive emus.
Cassowaries are aggressive birds that nest on the ground. The Cassowary is the second largest flightless bird on the planet, second only to the ostrich. Although the Australian Emu can stand taller, it's overall size and weight is less than the Cassowary.
Description
The Northern and Dwarf Cassowaries are not well known. All cassowaries are usually shy birds of the deep forest, adept at disappearing long before a human knows they're there. Even the more accessible Southern Cassowary of the far north
Queensland rain forests isn't well understood.
The Southern Cassowary is the largest land creature in Australia and the second heaviest extant bird in the world after the ostrich. It is third tallest after the ostrich and emu.
A cassowary's three-
toed feet have sharp
claws; the
dagger-like middle claw is 120 mm (5 inches) long. This claw is particularly dangerous since the Cassowary can use it to kill an enemy, disembowelling it with a single kick. They can run up to 50
km/h (32 mph) through the dense forest. They can jump up to 1.5 m (5 feet) and they're good swimmers.
All three species have horn-like crests called
casques on their heads. These consist of "a
keratinous skin over a core of firm, cellular foam-like material". Several purposes for the casques have been proposed. One possibility is that they're secondary sexual characteristics. Other suggestions include that they're used to batter through underbrush, as a weapon for dominance disputes, or as a tool for pushing aside leaf litter during foraging. The latter three are disputed by biologist Andrew Mack on the basis of personal observation. However, the earlier article by Crome and Moore says that the birds do lower their heads when they're running "full tilt through the vegetation, brushing saplings aside and occasionally careening [sic] into small trees. The casque would help protect the skull from such collisions."
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cassowaries'.
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