Cassowary

Cassowary Temporal range: 5–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Early Pliocene – Recent
Southern cassowary
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Casuariiformes
Family:	Casuariidae Kaup, 1847
Genus:	Casuarius Brisson, 1760
Species
Casuarius casuarius Southern cassowary Casuarius unappendiculatus Northern cassowary Casuarius bennetti Dwarf cassowary †Casuarius lydekkeri
Diversity
4 species
Synonyms
Casoarius Bont. Cela Oken1816 Cela Moehr 1752 nomen rejectum Rhea Lacépède 1800 non Latham 1790 Chelarga Billberg 1828 Oxyporus Brookes 1828 Thrasys Billberg 1828 Cassowara Perry 1811 Hippalectryo Gloger 1842 Struthio Linnaeus

Casuarius casuarius
Southern cassowary
Casuarius unappendiculatus
Northern cassowary
Casuarius bennetti
Dwarf cassowary
†Casuarius lydekkeri

The cassowaries (/ˈkæsəwɛəri/) are ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bone) in the genus Casuarius and are native to the tropical forests of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and Indonesia), nearby islands, and northeastern Australia.

There are three extant species. The most common of these, the southern cassowary, is the third-tallest and second-heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu.

Cassowaries feed mainly on fruit, although all species are truly omnivorous and will take a range of other plant food, including shoots and grass seeds, in addition to fungi, invertebrates, and small vertebrates. Cassowaries are very shy, but when provoked they are capable of inflicting injuries, occasionally fatal, to dogs and people.