PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Casuarius (cassowary)

Osteichthyes - Casuariiformes - Casuariidae

Taxonomy

Casuarius was named by Brisson (1760). It is extant.

It was assigned to Casuariidae by Lambrecht (1933), Carroll (1988); and to Casuariinae by Boles (1997), del Hoyo et al. (2014), Worthy and Nguyen (2020).

Species

C. bennetti, C. casuarius, C. lydekkeri, C. unappendiculatus

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1760	Casuarius Brisson
1933	Casuarius Lambrecht p. 111
1988	Casuarius Carroll
1997	Casuarius Boles p. 236
2014	Casuarius del Hoyo et al.
2020	Casuarius Worthy and Nguyen p. 68

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
class	Osteichthyes
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()
—	Archosauromorpha	(Huene 1946)
—	Crocopoda
—	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986

Rank	Name	Author
—	Eucrocopoda
—	Archosauria	()
informal	Avemetatarsalia
—	Ornithodira
—	Dinosauromorpha
—	Dinosauriformes
—	Dinosauria	()
—	Saurischia	()
—	Theropoda	()
—	Neotheropoda
—	Averostra	Paul 2002
—	Tetanurae
—	Coelurosauria	()
—	Maniraptora
—	Paraves
class	Aves
subclass	Neornithes	Gadow 1893
superorder	Palaeognathae	Pycraft 1900
—	Ratitae	(Merrem 1813)
superorder	Casuariimorphae
order	Casuariiformes
family	Casuariidae	Kaup 1847
subfamily	Casuariinae
genus	Casuarius	Brisson 1760

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. Casuarius Brisson 1760 [cassowary]

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Casuarius bennetti Gould 1857 [Dwarf cassowary]

Casuarius casuarius Linnaeus 1758 [Southern cassowary]

†Casuarius lydekkeri Rothschild 1891

Casuarius unappendiculatus Blyth 1860 [Northern cassowary]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteo

Entire body:

yeso

Adult length:

10 to < 100o

Adult width:

1.0 to < 10o

Adult height:

1.0 to < 10o

Architecture:

compact or denseo

Ontogeny:

accretion, modification of partso

Grouping:

solitaryo

Environment:

terrestrialg

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

ground dwellingg

Diet:

herbivoreg

Reproduction:

oviparouso

Dispersal:

direct/internalo

Dispersal 2:

mobileo

Created:

2009-01-03 19:09:16

Modified:

2009-01-03 21:09:16

Source: g = genus, o = order

References: Kiessling 2004, Marsh 1875, Witmer and Rose 1991

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: Late/Upper Pliocene or 3.60000 to 2.58000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 2.58 Ma

Collections: one only

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Late/Upper Pliocene	3.6 - 2.58	Papua New Guinea (Morobe)	Casuarius sp. (36266)