Dwarf cassowary

Species of bird From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dwarf cassowary

The dwarf cassowary (Casuarius bennetti), also known as Bennett's cassowary, little cassowary, mountain cassowary[2] or muruk, is the smallest of the three extant species of cassowaries.

Quick Facts Conservation status, Scientific classification ...
Dwarf cassowary
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At Avilon Zoo
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Palaeognathae
Order: Casuariiformes
Family: Casuariidae
Genus: Casuarius
Species:
C. bennetti
Binomial name
Casuarius bennetti
Gould, 1857[2]
Subspecies
  • C. b. bennetti Gould, 1857
  • C. b. westermanni Sclater, 1874
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Distribution of the dwarf cassowary
Synonyms[3]
List
  • Casuarius bennetti westermannirogersi (Sclater, 1874)
  • Casuarius westermanni Sclater, 1874
  • Casuarius papuanus Schlegel, 1871
  • Casuarius bennetti papuanus (Schlegel, 1871)
  • Casuarius goodfellowi Rothschild, 1914
  • Casuarius bennetti goodfellowi (Rothschild, 1914)
  • Casuarius papuanus goodfellowi (Rothschild, 1914)
  • Casuarius papuanus shawmayeri Rothschild, 1937
  • Casuarius bennetti shawmayeri (Rothschild, 1937)
  • Casuarius foersteri Rothschild, 1913
  • Casuarius bennetti foersteri (Rothschild, 1913)
  • Casuarius picticollis hecki Rothschild, 1899
  • Casuarius bennetti hecki (Rothschild, 1899)
  • Casuarius keysseri Rothschild, 1912
  • Casuarius bennetti keysseri (Rothschild, 1912)
  • Casuarius jamrachi Rothschild, 1904
  • Casuarius roseigularis Rothschild. 1905
  • Casuarius bennetti roseigularis (Rothschild, 1905)
  • Casuarius rogersi Rothschild, 1928
  • Casuarius edwardsi Oustalet, 1878
  • Casuarius bennetti edwardsi (Oustalet, 1878)
  • Casuarius westermanni edwardsi (Oustalet, 1878)
  • Casuarius claudii Ogilvie-Grant, 1911
  • Casuarius bennetti claudii (Ogilvie-Grant, 1911)
  • Casuarius picticollis Sclater, 1874
  • Casuarius bennetti picticollis (Sclater, 1874)
  • Casuarius loriae Rothschild, 1898
  • Casuarius bennetti loriae (Rothschild, 1898)
  • Casuarius maculatus Rothschild, 1900
  • Casuarius bennetti maculatus (Rothschild, 1900)
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Taxonomy

Summarize
Perspective
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Dwarf cassowary in Lae, New Guinea

The scientific name commemorates the Australian naturalist George Bennett.[4] He was the first scientist to examine these birds after a few were brought to Australia aboard a ship. Recognising them as a new species of cassowary, he sent specimens back to England, where other taxonomists confirmed his perception. On the west side of Cenderawasih Bay, western Papua, there is a distinctive form that may merit a split. C. papuanus is the tentative name. There are two recognized subspecies

A third subspecies, Casuarius bennetti papuanus, may exist based on a specimen collected in 1875 of unknown origin.[5] This name is sometimes applied to C. b. westermanni subspecies, and may represent a distinct species, but the taxonomy is still unresolved.

The Karam or Kalam people[6] of the New Guinea Highlands classify bats and flying birds as one group, yaket, and the cassowaries, very large, wingless, flightless birds as another, kobtiy. Yaket are bony with wings and fly in the air, while kobtiy are bony without wings and are terrestrial and of the forest. They distinguish kobtiy from other bony, wingless animals because kobtiy are not quadrupedal like dogs and lizards and are not limbless like snakes.[7] (See Kalam languages.)

John Gould first identified the dwarf cassowary from a specimen from New Britain, in 1857.[2]

Description

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Drawing from Gatherings of a naturalist in Australasia by George Bennett (1860)

The dwarf cassowary is a large bird but is smaller than other living cassowaries (the southern cassowary and northern cassowary). It is between 99 and 150 cm (3 ft 3 in and 4 ft 11 in) long and weighs between 17.6 and 26 kg (39 and 57 lb).[2] It is a flightless bird with hard and stiff black plumage, a low triangular casque, pink cheek and red patches of skin on its blue neck.[2] Compared to other cassowaries, the dwarf cassowary is shorter, with a tarsi length of 24.5 cm (9.6 in), with a slightly smaller bill, at 11 to 12.2 cm (4.3 to 4.8 in).[2] The feet are large and powerful, equipped with dagger-like claws on the inner toe. Both sexes are similar. Females have longer casques, brighter bare skin colour and are larger in size.

Range and habitat

The dwarf cassowary is endemic to the montane cloud forests and tropical rainforests of the island of New Guinea (divided between the countries of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea). Though the birds are primarily found on the island of New Guinea proper, they are also known from the Bismarck Archipelago (part of Papua New Guinea's Islands Region), including the islands of New Britain and New Ireland,[8] as well as Yapen Island[9] (part of Indonesia's Papua Province), at elevations of around 3,300 m (10,800 ft) above sea level. In areas where dwarf cassowaries do not encounter the northern cassowary (Casuarius unappendiculatus) nor the southern (Casuarius casuarius) species—i.e., avoiding interspecific competition—they will naturally become more confident and forage in lowland or open forest areas.[2] The dwarf cassowary's total population is distributed over an area of approximately 258,000 km2 (100,000 sq mi).[10]

Ecology

The species feeds mainly on fallen fruits or fruits that they pluck from shrubs,[11] and small animals and insects. Dwarf cassowaries use the crest on their head to sort through leaf litter and reveal many sources of food, such as fungi, insects, plant tissue, and small vertebrates, including lizards and frogs.[11] A solitary bird, it pairs only during breeding season.[2] It possibly undertakes seasonal migrations in part of its range.[1]

Conservation

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Egg of Dwarf Cassowary
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Chicks

The dwarf cassowary has been classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN from 2004 to 2013 due to pressure by habitat loss, habitat degradation, being hunted for food, and often being kept in captivity. However, the species was downgraded to Least Concern in 2015, as current populations appear to be stable (although population trends remain generally unknown) and there is substantially less hunting pressure than in the past.[1][10]

References

Further reading

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