Asian ostrich

{{Expand language|langcode=ru|langcode2=ka|langcode3=uz}}{{short description|Extinct species of bird}} {{distinguish|Struthio anderssoni}} {{Speciesbox | name = Asian ostrich | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Neogene}} | image = Struthio asiaticus.jpg | image_caption = Asian ostrich skeleton | extinct = yes | genus = Struthio | species = asiaticus | authority = Milne-Edwards, 1871<ref name="Sharpe">Sharpe, R. Bowdler (1899)</ref> | synonyms = * ''Struthio indicus'' Bidwell, 1910 * ''Struthio palaeindicus'' Falconer 1868 nomen nudum * ''Megaloscelornis sivalensis'' Lydekker 1879 }}

The '''Asian''' or '''Asiatic ostrich''' ('''''Struthio asiaticus''''') is an extinct species of ostrich that lived during the Neogene period on the Indian subcontinent.

== Discovery == The early records that ranged from the Pliocene Epoch in Africa to the Pleistocene-Holocene Epoch in northeastern Asia are considered dubious.<ref name="Buffetaut2022">Buffetaut, E. Feduccia (2022)</ref> Beads made from shells taken from archaeological sites in India dating to more than 25,000 years were found to have traces of DNA and analysis of sequences examined from them show that the species is definitely in the genus ''Struthio''.<ref>Jain, Sonal, et al (2017)</ref>

== Description == [[File:Struthio asiaticus 2.jpg|thumb|Asian ostrich egg shells]] Asian ostriches were large, being more robustly built and reaching about the same height as an adult male of the extant common ostrich. It may have had short toes, but this is considered a tentative assumption.<ref name=Buffetaut2022/><ref>Mayr, G (2016)</ref> A specimen from the Pliocene of Morocco could be 20% bigger than an adult male of the extant ''Struthio camelus'',<ref>Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile, et al (2008)</ref> but the African specimens are considered dubious, and the "exact proportions are difficult to reconstruct on the basis of the available material."<ref name=Buffetaut2022/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Works cited== * {{cite book|last=Sharpe |first=R. Bowdler |author-link=Richard Bowdler Sharpe |title=A Handlist of the Genera and Species of Birds |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/34493#4 |access-date=1 February 2010 |volume=I |year=1899 |publisher=Taylor and Francis|location=Red Lion Court Fleet Street, London UK |page=2 }} *{{cite journal|last1=Buffetaut|first1=E.|title=The First-Named Fossil Ostrich: A Revision of ''Struthio asiaticus'', from the Siwaliks of India|editor1=Feduccia, A.|journal=Diversity|year=2022 |volume=14|issue=10|page=860|doi=10.3390/d14100860|doi-access=free}} *{{cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0164823|pmid=28273082|pmc=5342186|title=Ancient DNA Reveals Late Pleistocene Existence of Ostriches in Indian Sub-Continent|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=12|issue=3|article-number=e0164823|year=2017|last1=Jain|first1=Sonal|last2=Rai|first2=Niraj|last3=Kumar|first3=Giriraj|last4=Pruthi|first4=Parul Aggarwal|last5=Thangaraj|first5=Kumarasamy|last6=Bajpai|first6=Sunil|last7=Pruthi|first7=Vikas|bibcode=2017PLoSO..1264823J|doi-access=free}} * {{cite book | isbn = 978-1-119-02076-9| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UNqTDgAAQBAJ&dq=struthio+asiaticus+large&pg=PA98| title= Avian Evolution. The Fossil Record of Birds and Its Paleobiological Significance| publisher = Wiley| date = October 31, 2016| access-date = 30 September 2022| page = 98|last1=Mayr |first1=Gerald|author-link = Gerald Mayr}} *{{cite journal|first1=Cécile |last1=Mourer-Chauviré |first2=Denis |last2=Geraads|date=January 2008|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/32226428|title=The Struthionidae and Pelagornithidae (Aves: Struthioniformes, Odontopterygiformes) from the late Pliocene of Ahl Al Oughlam, Morocco|journal=Oryctos|volume=7|pages=169–194}}

==Additional reading== * {{cite web| url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=223880 | title=Struthio asiaticus | access-date= 14 Jun 2012 | last=Paleobiology Database | year=2012 | format= | work=Paleobiology Database | location=| pages= | language= | doi= | quote= }} *Routledge, Jennifer (2020). "Ostrich Eggshell from the Far Eastern Steppe: Stable Isotopic Exploration of Range, Commodification, and Extirpation". ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2020

Category:Ostriches Category:Extinct flightless birds Category:Ratites Category:Late Quaternary prehistoric birds Category:Neogene birds of Asia Category:Pleistocene birds Category:Zanclean first appearances Category:Holocene extinctions Category:Extinct birds of Asia Category:Quaternary birds of Asia Category:Fossil taxa described in 1871