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Flightless birds are birds that cannot fly, as they have, through evolution, lost the ability to. [1] There are over 60 extant species, [2] including the well-known ratites (ostriches, emus, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwis) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail (length 12.5 cm, weight 34.7
Gastornithiformes are an extinct order of giant flightless fowl with fossils found in North America, Eurasia, possibly Australia. [1] Members of Gastornithidae were long considered to be a part of the order Gruiformes. However, the traditional concept of Gruiformes has since been shown to be polyphyletic.
The genus Dryolimnas comprises birds in the rail family. The Réunion rail, a member of this genus, became extinct in the 17th century. The white-throated rail of Aldabra is the last surviving flightless bird in the western Indian Ocean. [2] They are mostly found on Malabar Island, but can also be found on Polymnieli Island and other islands.
The Inaccessible Island rail, or Inaccessible rail (Laterallus rogersi) is a small bird species of the rail family, Rallidae. Endemic to Inaccessible Island in the Tristan Archipelago in the isolated south Atlantic, it is the smallest extant flightless bird in the world.
The basal metabolic rate of flighted species is much higher than that of flightless terrestrial birds. [34] But energetic efficiency can only help explain the loss of flight when the benefits of flying are not critical to survival. Research on flightless rails indicates the flightless condition evolved in the absence of predators. [35]
Pages for logged out editors learn more. Contributions; Talk; ... Extinct flightless birds (6 C, 147 P) F. Fictional flightless birds (5 C, 10 P) P. Penguins (4 C, 33 ...
National Geographic's Ed Yong says Cooper's research supports a newer theory about the flightless bird family: that they "evolved from small, flying birds that flapped their way between continents ...
Gastornis is an extinct genus of large, flightless birds that lived during the mid-Paleocene to mid-Eocene epochs of the Paleogene period. Most fossils have been found in Europe, and some species typically referred to the genus are known from North America and Asia.