Struthionidae

Struthionidae is a member of the Struthioniformes, a group of paleognath birds which first appeared during the Early Eocene, and includes a variety of flightless forms which were present across the Northern Hemisphere (Europe, Asia and North America) during the Eocene epoch. The closest relatives of Struthionidae within the Struthioniformes are the Ergilornithidae, known from the late Eocene to early Pliocene of Asia. It is therefore most likely that Struthionidae originated in Asia.{{Cite journal |last1=Mayr |first1=Gerald |last2=Zelenkov |first2=Nikita |date=2021-11-13 |title=Extinct crane-like birds (Eogruidae and Ergilornithidae) from the Cenozoic of Central Asia are indeed ostrich precursors |url=https://academic.oup.com/auk/article/doi/10.1093/ornithology/ukab048/6338403 |journal=Ornithology |language=en |volume=138 |issue=4 |pages=ukab048 |doi=10.1093/ornithology/ukab048 |issn=0004-8038|doi-access=free }} The oldest records of Struthionidae, belonging to the genus Struthio, are from the Early Miocene of Africa, around 21 million years old. Struthio dispersed into and became widespread in Eurasia during the late middle-Late Miocene epoch beginning around 12 million years ago. Pachystruthio from the Late Pliocene of Eurasia contains some of the largest bird species ever with some species likely weighing up to {{Convert|450|kg|lb}}.{{Cite journal |last1=Widrig |first1=Klara |last2=Field |first2=Daniel J. |date=February 2022 |title=The Evolution and Fossil Record of Palaeognathous Birds (Neornithes: Palaeognathae) |journal=Diversity |language=en |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=105 |doi=10.3390/d14020105 |issn=1424-2818|doi-access=free |url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/e58973e8-911d-450b-9ebc-97544f5ea076/download }}File:Ostrich Ngorongoro 02.jpg

While the relationship of the African fossil species is comparatively straightforward, many Asian species of ostriches have been described from fragmentary remains, and their interrelationships and how they relate to the African ostriches are confusing. In China, ostriches are known to have become extinct only around or even after the end of the last ice age; images of ostriches have been found there on prehistoric pottery and petroglyphs.Doar, B.G. (2007) [http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/articles.php?searchterm=010_genetalia.inc&issue=010 "Genitalia, Totems and Painted Pottery: New Ceramic Discoveries in Gansu and Surrounding Areas"]. China Heritage Quarterly{{cite journal | last1 = Janz | first1 = Lisa | display-authors = etal | year = 2009 | title = Dating North Asian surface assemblages with ostrich eggshell: implications for palaeoecology and extirpation | journal = Journal of Archaeological Science | volume = 36 | issue = 9| pages = 1982–1989 | doi=10.1016/j.jas.2009.05.012| bibcode = 2009JArSc..36.1982J }}{{cite journal|author=Andersson, J. G. |title=Essays on the cenozoic of northern China|journal=Memoirs of the Geological Survey of China (Peking), Series A|volume=3 |year=1923|pages=1–152 (53–77)}}

File:Somali ostrich.jpg

Today ostriches are only found natively in the wild in Africa, where they occur in a range of open arid and semi-arid habitats such as savannas and the Sahel, both north and south of the equatorial forest zone.{{cite web| url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Struthio_camelus.html | title=Struthio camelus | last=Donegan | first=Keenan | year=2002 | work=Animal Diversity Web | publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology}} The Somali ostrich occurs in the Horn of Africa, having evolved isolated from the common ostrich by the geographic barrier of the East African Rift. In some areas, the common ostrich's Masai subspecies occurs alongside the Somali ostrich, but they are kept from interbreeding by behavioral and ecological differences.{{cite journal |author1=Freitag, Stephanie |author2=Robinson, Terence J. |name-list-style=amp |year= 1993|title= Phylogeographic patterns in mitochondrial DNA of the Ostrich (Struthio camelus)|journal= The Auk|volume= 110|issue= 3|pages= 614–622|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v110n03/p0614-p0622.pdf |doi= 10.2307/4088425|jstor=4088425 }} The Arabian ostriches in Asia Minor and Arabia were hunted to extinction by the middle of the 20th century, and in Israel attempts to introduce North African ostriches to fill their ecological role have failed.{{cite news |last=Rinat|first=Zafrir |date=25 December 2007 |title=The Bitter Fate of Ostriches in the Wild |url=http://www.haaretz.com/the-bitter-fate-of-ostriches-in-the-wild-1.235868 |newspaper=Haaretz |location=Tel Aviv|access-date=10 January 2017 }} Escaped common ostriches in Australia have established feral populations.[http://trevorsbirding.com/ostriches-in-australia-and-near-my-home/ Ostriches in Australia – and near my home]. trevorsbirding.com (13 September 2007)

File:Στρουθοκαμήλου στην Bucaramanga της Κολομβίας.jpg

In 2019, the species S. pannonicus, S. dmanisensis (the giant ostrich), and S. transcaucasicus were transferred to the genus Pachystruthio.{{cite journal|last1= Zelenkov|first1=N. V.|last2= Lavrov|first2=A. V.|last3= Startsev|first3=D. B.|last4= Vislobokova|first4=I. A.|last5= Lopatin|first5=A. V.|title= A giant early Pleistocene bird from eastern Europe: unexpected component of terrestrial faunas at the time of early Homo arrival|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=39|issue=2|year= 2019|pages= e1605521|doi= 10.1080/02724634.2019.1605521|bibcode=2019JVPal..39E5521Z |s2cid=198384367 }}

Order Struthioniformes Latham 1790 (ostriches)

• Family Struthionidae Vigors 1825
• Genus †Pachystruthio (Kretzoi 1954) (Late Pliocene {{endash}} Pleistocene)
• Genus Struthio Linnaeus 1758 (Early Miocene – Recent)

• Ostrich egg

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{{Birds}}

{{Palaeognathae|P.}}

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Category:Extant Paleocene first appearances

Category:Bird families

Category:Taxa named by Nicholas Aylward Vigors