Arabian ostrich | |
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Arabian ostrich painting from The Book of Animals by al-Jahiz. Syria, 14th century. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
Order: | Struthioniformes |
Family: | Struthionidae |
Genus: | Struthio |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | †S. c. syriacus |
Trinomial name | |
†Struthio camelus syriacus Rothschild, 1919 [2] |
The Arabian ostrich (Struthio camelus syriacus), Syrian ostrich, or Middle Eastern ostrich is an extinct subspecies of the ostrich that lived on the Arabian Peninsula and in the Near East until the mid-20th century.
The Arabian ostrich's range seems to have been continuous in prehistoric times, but with the drying-up of the Arabian Peninsula, it disappeared from the inhospitable areas of the Arabian Desert, such as the Rub' al Khali. In historic times, the bird seems to have occurred in two discrete relict populations: a smaller one in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula and a larger one in the area where today the borders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and Syria meet. [3] Once common in the Israeli Negev, ostriches became extinct in the region in the 1920s as a result of widespread hunting. [4] It was also present in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (in prehistoric times), Oman, and Kuwait. Eggshells of Arabian ostriches have been found on Bahrain, though this is likely not an introduction to the island, but a type of religious burial. [5] Mitochondrial DNA studies have shown a close relationship to the North African subspecies camelus, indicating there may have been intergradation between the two. [6] Almost indistinguishable from that subspecies, the females were possibly of a slightly lighter coloration.[ citation needed ] The only certain way to distinguish camelus and syriacus was the smaller size of the latter, with only marginal overlap: the tarsus was 390–465 mm long in syriacus versus 450–530 mm in camelus.
The Arabian ostrich has long had a significant place in the culture of the region. An adult with 11 offspring is featured on the famous prehistoric "Graffiti Rock I" near Riyadh. [7] [8] In Mesopotamia, it was used as a sacrificial animal and featured in artwork, painted on cups and other objects made from ostrich eggs, traded as far as Etruria during the Neo-Assyrian period. In Tang China, an ostrich was a welcome exotic gift fit for an emperor: ostriches figure in the decoration of the Qianling Mausoleum, completed and closed in 706.
The Jewish view of this bird was less favorable. The fact that the female ostrich may leave the nest unattended (because the eggs are too thick-shelled to be easily broken open by predators) is the reason why the bird is contrasted with the parental instinct of the stork in the Book of Job (Job 39:13–18 . [9] [10] ) This is also the reason why the Book of Lamentations (Lamentations 4:3 ) refers to the female ostrich as heartless. [9] The Arabian ostrich is possibly [11] among the birds forbidden to Jews as unclean under the kashrut in Leviticus (Leviticus 11:16 ), though the Israelites would just as likely have known the birds from the North African subspecies, which was extant in the Nile Valley of Egypt at that time.
In Roman times, there was a demand for ostriches to use in venatio games or cooking. These birds usually would have come from the North African subspecies rather than from the Arabian one, as the latter was only found in the unruly frontier regions of the Roman Empire, although it is to be noted that much later, the plumes of the Arabian ostrich were considered superior material for hatmaking compared to those of the North African subspecies.
After the rise of Islam, the Arabian ostrich came to represent wealth and elegance; ostrich hunting became a popular pastime for the rich and noble (if slaughtered properly, ostrich meat is halaal to Muslims) and eggs, feathers and leather were extensively used in handicraft. Arabian ostrich products, as well as live birds, were exported as far as China. A Tang dynasty source states that the "camel bird" inhabiting Arabia is
"four chi and more in height, its feet resembling those of a camel; its neck is very strong, and men are able to ride on its back...".
The Arabian ostrich was also discussed in Mesopotamian scholarly writings from the time of the Baghdad Caliphate, such as Zakariya al-Qazwini's cosmography 'Aja'ib al-makhluqat wa-ghara'ib al-mawjudat , the Kitab al-Hayawan ("Book of Animals") of Al-Jahiz, or Ibn Manzur's dictionary Lisan al-Arab.
The Arabian ostrich is mentioned by T. E. Lawrence in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, when one Arabian tribe brings eggs to Faisal I of Iraq as a peace offering. It is mentioned that the ostrich is plentiful in the tribe's territory.
The widespread introduction of firearms and, later, motor vehicles marked the start of the decline towards extinction of the subspecies. Earlier hunting methods with bow, arrows and dogs had allowed most animals of a group to escape, but rifles and cars enabled poaching and excessive game hunting to diminish the species into extinction. By the early 20th century, the Arabian ostrich had become rare. Its main stronghold was the northern An Nafud northwards to the Syrian Desert, between latitudes 34°N and 25°N and longitude 38°E eastwards to the Euphrates Valley, and it was most plentiful in Al Jawf Province, where it associated with herds of Saudi gazelle and Arabian oryx, animals that are now extinct or very rare respectively. Some of the last sightings include an individual east of the Tall al-Rasatin at the Jordanian-Iraqi border in 1928, a bird shot and eaten by pipeline workers in the area of Jubail in the early 1940s (some sources specifically state 1941), two apocryphal records of birds suffering the same fate in 1948, and a dying individual found in the upper Wadi al-Hasa north of Petra in 1966. [12] Remains of old eggs are still found in the former range of the southern subpopulation, which disappeared between the 1900s and the 1920s, probably mainly because of increasing aridity. Some eggshell fragments were collected by St. John Philby from Mahadir Summan, Arabia, around 1931. [13]
Following analyses of mtDNA control region haplotypes that confirmed the close relationship of the Arabian and the North African subspecies, [14] a reintroduction project using S. c. camelus was set up in Saudi Arabia and Qatar in 1994. [15] A failed reintroduction was attempted in Israel's Negev in 2004. [16] [4]
The common ostrich, or simply ostrich, is a species of flightless bird native to certain large areas of Africa. It is one of two extant species of ostriches, the only living members of the genus Struthio in the ratite order of birds. The other is the Somali ostrich, which was recognized as a distinct species by BirdLife International in 2014 having been previously considered a distinctive subspecies of ostrich.
Struthionidae is a family of flightless birds, containing the extant ostriches and their extinct relatives. The two extant species of ostrich are the common ostrich and Somali ostrich, both in the genus Struthio, which also contains several species known from Holocene fossils such as the Asian ostrich. The common ostrich is the more widespread of the two living species, and is the largest living bird species. The extinct genus Pachystruthio from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of Eurasia is one of the largest birds ever.
Harry St John Bridger Philby, CIE, also known as Jack Philby or Sheikh Abdullah, was a British Arabist, advisor, explorer, writer, and a colonial intelligence officer who served as an advisor to King Abdulaziz ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia.
Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos. Camelids are even-toed ungulates classified in the order Artiodactyla, along with species including whales, pigs, deer, cattle, and antelopes.
The dromedary, also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel, or one-humped camel, is a large even-toed ungulate, of the genus Camelus, with one hump on its back.
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Ostriches are large flightless birds. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, with adult common ostriches weighing anywhere between 63.5 and 145 kilograms and laying the largest eggs of any living land animal. With the ability to run at 70 km/h (43.5 mph), they are the fastest birds on land. They are farmed worldwide, with significant industries in the Philippines and in Namibia. Ostrich leather is a lucrative commodity, and the large feathers are used as plumes for the decoration of ceremonial headgear. Ostrich eggs have been used by humans for millennia.
The Syrian Desert, also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert and steppe covering 500,000 square kilometers of the Middle East, including parts of southern Syria, eastern Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia, and western Iraq. It accounts for 85% of the land area of Jordan and 55% of Syria. To the south it borders and merges into the Arabian Desert. The land is open, rocky or gravelly desert pavement, cut with occasional wadis.
The Saudi gazelle is a Gazella species that was once native to the Arabian Peninsula. It was declared extinct in the wild in 1996, as it was last observed in the wild in 1970. The Saudi gazelle was officially declared extinct on the IUCN Red List in 2008.
The Syrian wild ass, less commonly known as a hemippe, an achdari, or a Mesopotamian or Syrian onager, is an extinct subspecies of onager native to the Arabian peninsula and surrounding areas. It ranged across present-day Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey.
The Somali ostrich, also known as the blue-necked ostrich, is a large flightless bird native to the Horn of Africa. It is one of two living species of ostriches, the other being the common ostrich. It was also previously considered a subspecies of the common ostrich, but was identified as a distinct species in 2014.
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The Asian or Asiatic ostrich, is an extinct species of ostrich that lived during the Neogene period on the Indian subcontinent.
Struthio coppensi is an extinct species of ostrich located near Elisabethfeld, Namibia. This ostrich is believed to have lived during the Miocene, about 20 mya, and is the oldest member of the Struthio genus.
The North African ostrich, red-necked ostrich, or Barbary ostrich is the nominate subspecies of the common ostrich from West and North Africa. It has the largest average size among the subspecies of ostriches, making it the largest living bird.
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'Uruq Bani Ma'arid is a protected area in southern Saudi Arabia, located on the western edge of the Rub' al Khali, the largest sandy desert in the world. The protected area is divided into three sections; a core nature reserve; a zone where controlled grazing is permitted; and a hunting zone.
The Masai ostrich, also known as the East African ostrich is a red-necked subspecies variety of the common ostrich and is endemic to East Africa. It is one of the largest birds in the world, second only to its sister subspecies Struthio camelus camelus. Today it is hunted and farmed for eggs, meat, and feathers.
The egg of the ostrich is the largest of any living bird. The shell has a long history of use by humans as a container and for decorative artwork, including beads. The eggs are not commonly eaten.