Struthio Temporal range: Pliocene–Present Pliocene to Recent |
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Ostrich, male and female | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
Class: | Aves |
Subclass: | Neornithes |
Superorder: | Paleognathae |
Order: | Struthioniformes |
Family: | Struthionidae (Vigors, 1825)[1] |
Genus: | Struthio Linnaeus, 1758 |
Species | |
†Struthio coppensi |
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Diversity | |
10 Species, 5 possible species |
Struthio is a genus of bird in the order Struthioniformes.
Contents |
There are ten known species from this genus, of which eight are extinct. There are five more possible species of which trace fossils 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 Asiatic steppes 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.[2]
The genus Struthio used to include the Emu, Rhea, and also the Cassowary, until they each were placed in their own genera.[1]