Ratite

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

Two families: Casuariidae, three species of cassowary, found in Australia and New Guinea; and Dromaiidae, one species of emu in Australia.

• 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.