Rheiformes | |
---|---|
Greater rhea (Rhea americana) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
Clade: | Notopalaeognathae |
Order: | Rheiformes Forbes, 1884 |
Families [2] | |
Rheiformes is an order that contains the family Rheidae (rheas). [3] It is in the infraclass Paleognathae, which contains all ratites. Extant members are found in South America. While the IOC World Bird List and the Clements Checklist categorise Rheiformes as its own order, [3] [4] the BirdLife Data Zone includes rheas, along with ostriches, tinamous, cassowaries, emu, and kiwis, in the order Struthioniformes. [5] Of the two extant species of rheas recognized by the IUCN Red List, as of 2022 [update] , Rhea americana is listed as near threatened, [6] while Rhea pennata is listed as least concern. [7] From 2014 to 2022, the IUCN recognised Rhea tarapacensis as a separate species, and listed it as near threatened in its last assessment in 2020; [8] in 2022, it was again recognised as a subspecies of R. pennata. [7] : Taxonomy
Rheas, also known as ñandus or South American ostrich, are moderately sized South American ratites of the order Rheiformes. They are distantly related to the African ostriches and Australia's emu, with rheas placing just behind the emu in height and overall size.
The red-winged tinamou is a medium-sized ground-living bird from central and eastern South America. Other common names for the species include perdiz grande, rufous tinamou, and ynambu.
The brown tinamou is a brownish ground bird found in humid lowland and montane forest in tropical and subtropical South America.
The variegated tinamou a type of tinamou commonly found in moist forest lowlands in subtropical and tropical regions of northern South America.
Darwin's rhea or the lesser rhea is a large flightless bird, the smaller of the two extant species of rheas. It is found in the Altiplano and Patagonia in South America.
The northern cassowary, also known as the one-wattled cassowary, single-wattled cassowary, or golden-necked cassowary, is a large, stocky flightless bird of northern New Guinea. It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf cassowary and the southern cassowary. It is a member of the superorder Paleognathae.
Palaeognathae is an infraclass of birds, called paleognaths or palaeognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. It is one of the two extant infraclasses of birds, the other being Neognathae, both of which form Neornithes. Palaeognathae contains five extant branches of flightless lineages, termed ratites, and one flying lineage, the Neotropic tinamous. There are 47 species of tinamous, five of kiwis (Apteryx), three of cassowaries (Casuarius), one of emus (Dromaius), two of rheas (Rhea) and two of ostriches (Struthio). Recent research has indicated that paleognaths are monophyletic but the traditional taxonomic split between flightless and flighted forms is incorrect; tinamous are within the ratite radiation, meaning flightlessness arose independently multiple times via parallel evolution.
The puna tinamou also known as Pentland's tinamou, is a member of the most ancient groups of bird families, the tinamous. This species is native to southern South America. The binomial name of the species commemorates the Irish natural scientist Joseph Barclay Pentland (1797–1873) by Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1837. The IUCN list this species as Least Concern, with an occurrence range of 590,000 km2 (230,000 sq mi).
The grey tinamou is a type of ground bird native to South America. Four subspecies are recognised.
The solitary tinamou is a species of paleognath ground bird. This species is native to Atlantic forest of eastern Brazil.
The thicket tinamou or rufescent tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in moist forests in subtropical and tropical central Mexico.
The slaty-breasted tinamou or Boucard's tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in lowland moist forests of Mexico and Central America.
The rusty tinamou or short-billed tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in swamp forest in tropical regions of South America.
The Chilean tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in high elevation shrubland in subtropical regions of central Chile.
The brushland tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in high-altitude dry shrubland in subtropical and tropical regions of southern South America.
The white-bellied nothura is a species of tinamou found in dry shrublands in northeastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, and northeastern Brazil.
The dwarf tinamou, also known as the least tinamou, is a small, superficially partridge-like bird with short tail and wings, found only in Brazil. This tinamou is the only member of the genus Taoniscus and it is considered an endangered species.
The quebracho crested tinamou is a species of tinamou found in dry forest habitats in Paraguay and northern Argentina in South America.
The Patagonian tinamou also known as Ingouf's tinamou is a member of one of the most ancient groups of paleognath birds, the tinamous. This species is native to southern South America.
This is a list of the tallest extant birds according to maximum height. Birds range from a tiny bee hummingbird, which is only 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in), to the giant African ostrich, almost 280 cm (9.2 ft) in height.