Zoological Treats

By Daniel Zimmermann

This e-book treats the cassowary, the solitary sandpiper, whistling ducks, baboon species of the genus papio, dugongs and manatees, Caecilians. The Asian tiger mosquito, swallowtail butterflies and Apollo butterflies.
We look at the scientific classification of these animals, as well as their range, their habits, their appearance, and other items of interest. For exmple, you will learn what disease you might suffer if the Asian tiger mosquito bites you. You will also learn why the cassowary will not win any flying contests. You will find out what animal cleans waterways that are clogged with Eichhornia crassipes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9780359181964

Book preview

Zoological Treats

Zoological Treats

By Daniel Zimmermann

Cassowary, a Flightless Bird

All authorities agree that cassowaries are birds, but they do not agree on the order to which they belong. Some place them in the order Casuariiformes, while others assign them to the order Struthioniformes. I decidedly prefer the latter, and I agree with those who place all ratite birds in this order. A ratite bird is one that does not have a keel on its breastbone. This is a significant characteristic and should outweigh other considerations.

This order Struthioniformes includes the ostrich, emu, kiwi, and rhea. It also includes extinct ratites, such as the moa.

The order Struthioniformes is divided into several families. The cassowary belongs to the family Casuariidae. Some authorities place the emu in this family. Others restrict it to the cassowaries.

All cassowaries belong to the genus Casuarius. The extant cassowaries have been assigned to three different species:  Casuarius casuarius or the southern cassowary, Casuarius unappendiculatus or the northern cassowary, and Casuarinus bennettii or Bennett’s cassowary.

Range

All three species of cassowaries are found in New Guinea. As you would expect from the names, the northern cassowary occurs in northern New Guinea, and the southern cassowary occurs farther south. Some islands close to New Guinea also enjoy the presence of cassowaries, and the range of the southern cassowary extends to Australia.

Flightless Birds

Cassowaries cannot fly. Since their breastbones do not have keels, there is no convenient place to anchor the powerful muscles that birds need in order to propel their bodies into the air. In addition, their flight feathers are hardly worthy of the name. According to Wikipedia, they are keratinous quills, like porcupine quills, with no barbs. Even if they had a keel and effective flight feathers, they could not navigate very well, since they have no tail feathers.. Anyway, they would need extra powerful wings, since they are heavy birds. Bennett’s cassowary is smaller than the other two, but it still cannot fly.

Description

The cassowary has dark feathers all over his body, except for its legs, head, and neck. The head and neck of all three species have a predominantly blue featherless skin with an admixture of red or pink. The northern cassowary has a single wattle, a loose patch of skin on its throat. The southern cassowary has a double wattle.

All three species have a casque on top of their heads. The casque consists of compressible material with a hard covering made of keratin. It looks strange, but it comes in very handy if something hard falls on its head.

Cassowaries have three toes on each foot, with a formidable claw on the middle toe. This bulky bird can be dangerous when provoked. Cassowaries have caused at least one human death, and offending dogs sometimes suffer the same fate.

The cassowary runs swiftly. Its top speed is a little more than 30 miles per hour. It also jumps well in spite of its bulk.

Reproduction

The habits of the southern cassowary are more thoroughly documented than the other two. Both males and females stake out territories. The female territories overlap the territories of several