Extinct subspecies of flightless bird from the Bass Strait island
King Island emu
Adult and juvenile specimens, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris; the juvenile could possibly also be from Kangaroo Island
Conservation status
Extinct (1822) (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Aves
Infraclass:
Palaeognathae
Order:
Casuariiformes
Family:
Casuariidae
Genus:
Dromaius
Species:
D. novaehollandiae
Subspecies:
†D. n. minor
Trinomial name
†Dromaius novaehollandiae minor
(Spencer, 1906)
Historical distribution of emu taxa (King Island emu in red) and ancient shorelines around Tasmania
Synonyms
List
Casuarius diemenianus Jennings,1827
Dromaeus parvulus Broderip, 1842
Dromaeus minor Spencer, 1906
Dromaius peroni Rothschild, 1907
Dromaius bassi Legge, 1907
Dromaius parvulus Mathews, 1910
Dromiceius spenceri Mathews, 1912
Peronista peroni (Mathews, 1913)
Dromaius diemenianus (Morgan & Sutton, 1928)
The King Island emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae minor) is an extinct subspecies of emu that was endemic to King Island, in the Bass Strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania. Its closest relative may be the also extinct Tasmanian emu (D. n. diemenensis), as they belonged to a single population until less than 14,000 years ago, when Tasmania and King Island were still connected. The small size of the King Island emu may be an example of insular dwarfism. The King Island emu was the smallest of all known emus and had darker plumage than the mainland emu. It was black and brown and had naked blue skin on the neck, and its chicks were striped like those on the mainland. The subspecies was distinct from the likewise small and extinct Kangaroo Island emu (D. n. baudinianus) in a number of osteological details, including size. The behaviour of the King Island emu probably did not differ much from that of the mainland emu. The birds gathered in flocks to forage and during breeding time. They fed on berries, grass and seaweed. They ran swiftly and could defend themselves by kicking. The nest was shallow and consisted of dead leaves and moss. Seven to nine eggs were laid, which were incubated by both parents.
Europeans discovered the King Island emu in 1802 during early expeditions to the island, and most of what is known about the bird in life comes from an interview French naturalist François Péron conducted with a sealer there, as well as depictions by artist Charles Alexandre Lesueur. They had arrived on King Island in 1802 with Nicolas Baudin's expedition, and in 1804 several live and stuffed King and Kangaroo Island emus were sent to France. The two live King Island specimens were kept in the Jardin des Plantes, and the remains of these and the other birds are scattered throughout various museums in Europe today. The logbooks of the expedition did not specify from which island each captured bird originated, or even that they were taxonomically distinct, so their status remained unclear until more than a century later. Hunting pressure and fires started by early settlers on King Island likely drove the wild population to extinction by 1805. The captive specimens in Paris both died in 1822 and are believed to have been the last of their kind.
^BirdLife International (2016). "Dromaius minor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22728643A94992893. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22728643A94992893.en.
The KingIslandemu (Dromaius novaehollandiae minor) is an extinct subspecies of emu that was endemic to KingIsland, in the Bass Strait between mainland...
Kangaroo Islandemu or dwarf emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae baudinianus) is an extinct subspecies of emu. It was restricted to Kangaroo Island, South Australia...
Pleistocene. As opposed to the other insular emu taxa, the KingIslandemu and the Kangaroo Islandemu, the population on Tasmania was sizable, meaning...
the common ostrich. The emu's native ranges cover most of the Australian mainland. The Tasmanian, Kangaroo Island and KingIsland subspecies became extinct...
Tasmania – The Tasmanian emu, which became extinct around 1850. †Dromaius novaehollandiae minor – KingIsland – The KingIslandemu was about half the size...
extant species of emu. All present superficial similarities, along being large flightless birds. The northern cassowary and the emu share homologous features...
third-tallest and second-heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu. The other two species are represented by the northern cassowary and the...
dwarf emu in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Dwarf emu, or lesser emu, refers to either of the two small emu types: Kangaroo IslandemuKingIslandemu This...
0000006501.80472.cc. S2CID 25730672. Parker S (1984) The extinct Kangaroo IslandEmu, a hitherto-unrecognised species. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists'...
Dromaius Emu (D. novaehollandiae) (subspecies: †Tasmanian emu (D. n. diemenensis) †Kangaroo Islandemu (D. n. baudinianus) †KingIslandemu (D. n. minor))...
well-known ratites (ostriches, emus, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwis) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail (length 12.5 cm,...
during the early Miocene and late Oligocene. It is one of two known genera of emu. There are two known species in the genus, Emuarius gidju and Emuarius guljaruba...
and the northern cassowary. It is a ratite and therefore related to the emu, ostriches, rheas and kiwi. The Australian population is listed as Endangered...
distributed throughout mountain forests of New Guinea, New Britain, and Yapen Island, at elevations up to 3,300 m (10,800 ft). In areas without other species...
separate subspecies is unclear. Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae (extirpated) Tasmanian emu, D. h. diemenensis (Ex) (E) KingIslandemu, D. h. minor (Ex) (E) Order:...
kiwi. Dromaius – emuKingIslandemu, Dromaius novaehollandiae minor (KingIsland, Australia, 1822) An island dwarf subspecies of the emu; extinct in the...
to Bass Strait) Emu on Tasmania and adjacent islands (serves as a proxy for Tasmanian emu, KingIslandemu, and Kangaroo Islandemu) Introduced species...
Australia. The two native subspecies of emu, Tasmanian emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis) and KingIslandemu (Dromaius novaehollandiae minor), were...
zoological specimens. In 1802, he made the only known sketches of the KingIslandemu in its natural habitat (the bird became extinct in 1822). Between May...
Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849...
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