Ratite
From Conservapedia
Ratite | |
---|---|
Greater rhea Rhea americana | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom Information | |
Domain | Eukaryota |
Kingdom | Animalia |
Subkingdom | Bilateria |
Branch | Deuterostomia |
Phylum Information | |
Phylum | Chordata |
Sub-phylum | Vertebrata |
Infraphylum | Gnathostomata |
Class Information | |
Superclass | Tetrapoda |
Class | Aves |
Sub-class | Neornithes |
Infra-class | Neoaves |
Order Information | |
Superorder | Paleognathae |
Population statistics |
Ratite (Latin: ratis, "raft") refers to living and extinct birds within the superorder Paleognathae, in which the name alludes to the raft-like, keel-less sternum. Of the species, the tinamous posses the power of flight, albeit in a reduced fashion, while the more familiar kiwis, ostriches, and similar birds are completely flightless.
Orders
Living ratites
- Apterygiformes
- One family, Apterygidae, found in New Zealand, represented by three species of kiwi.
- Casuariiformes
- Rheiformes
- One family, Rheidae, found in South America, and represented by two species of rhea.
- Struthioniformes
- One family, Struthionidae, found in Africa, and represented by the ostrich.
- Tinamiformes
- One family, Tinamidae, consisting of 47 species of tinamous found in Central and South America.
Extinct ratites
- Aepyornithiformes
- One family, Aepyornithidae, represented by nine species of elephant bird, formerly endemic to Madagascar.
- Dinornithiformes
- Two families, Dinornithidae and Anomalopterygidae, comprising 19 species of New Zealand moa.
- Lithornithiformes
- Family of small, slender-billed birds (Lithornithidae), bearing a resemblance to living tinamous, yet known only from the fossil record.