Ostrich

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[[de:Afrikanischer Strau�]]

Ostrich
Template:Taxonomy
Template:Regnum: Animalia Template:Phylum: Chordata Template:Classis: Aves Template:Ordo: Struthioniformes Template:Familia: Struthionidae [[da:Sl�gt (biologi)]] See genus (mathematics) for the use of the term in mathematics. In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a grouping in the classification of living organisms having one or more related or morphologically similar species. In the common binomial nomenclature, the name of an organism is composed of its genus (capitalized) and a species identifier. An example is Homo sapiens, the name for the human species which belongs to the genus Homo. See scientific classification for more details of this system. The Type Genus of a taxon is the first genus to be named and described. Families and, in plants, all taxa up to division are named after the type genus. The genus and these taxa are typified by a specimen that shows the characteristics of the genus best. The specimen used to describe this species is kept as the holotype in a zoological museum or a herbarium to be available for further study. A genus name in one kingdom is allowed to be the same as a genus or other taxon name in another kingdom. For instance, Anura is a genus of plants as well as the order of frogs; Aotus is both a pea and a monkey. It is, however, not allowed for two genera in the same kingdom to have the same name; this explains why the platypus is called Ornithorhynchus--"platypus" was originally chosen, but the name had already been given to an obscure invertebrate (invertebrates are in the same kingdom, Animalia, as the platypus). See also: Linnaean taxonomy, cladistics References Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Genus" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genus January 1, 2004: Struthio Template:Species: camelus
Binomial name
Struthio camelus

The Ostrich (Struthio camelus) is the largest living bird. It is up to about 2.5 metres (8 feet) in height and flightless, and belongs to the relatively primitive group known as ratites (Palaeognaths).

Other members of the group include rheas, emus, cassowaries and the largest bird ever, now extinct, Aepyornis. Ostriches have very long necks and legs and are capable of running at about 65 km/h (40 mph).

Ostriches occur naturally on the savannas and semi-deserts of Africa, both north and south of the equatorial forest zone. The Middle Eastern race S. c. syriacus is now extinct.

Their feathers do not function as airfoils, but the plumes used to be very popular as ornaments in ladies' hats and such. Ostriches are large enough for a small human to ride them and have been used in some areas of northern Africa and Arabia as racing mounts.

They are bred for meat in climates as cold as that of Finland. Ostrich meat tastes like lean beef.

In popular mythology, the Ostrich is famous for hiding its head in the sand at the first sign of danger. There have been no recorded observations of this behaviour, although the birds are known to lay their head and neck on the ground to appear less conspicuous when predators are near. When threatened, ostriches can seriously injure with kicks from their powerful legs.

Ostriches are noted for communal nesting, where a number of females will lay their eggs in a single nest, to be incubated by the alpha female by day and the male by night. The Ostrich's egg is the largest of all eggs.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Ostrich" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrich, used under the GNU Free Documentation License