1910 restoration by John Gerrard Keulemans, based on a skin at the British Museum, posed after a photograph of the mainland emu
Conservation status
Extinct (1865)
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Aves
Infraclass:
Palaeognathae
Order:
Casuariiformes
Family:
Casuariidae
Genus:
Dromaius
Species:
D. novaehollandiae
Subspecies:
†D. n. diemenensis
Trinomial name
†Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis
Le Souef, 1907
Geographic distribution of emu taxa and historic shoreline reconstructions around Tasmania
Synonyms
Dromaeius diemenensis (lapsus) Le Souef, 1907
The Tasmanian emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis) is an extinct subspecies of emu. It was found in Tasmania, where it had become isolated during the Late Pleistocene. As opposed to the other insular emu taxa, the King Island emu and the Kangaroo Island emu, the population on Tasmania was sizable, meaning that there were no marked effects of small population size as in the other two isolates.
The Tasmanian emu became extinct around 1865 according to the Australian Species Profile and Threats database.[1] This was officially recorded in 1997 when changes to listings of nationally threatened species saw the Tasmanian emu added to the list of species presumed extinct.[2]
Information regarding the emu is reliant on 19th century documentary evidence and the limited number of emu specimens in museums. As a consequence one of the biggest challenges in researching the Tasmanian emu is the many names or spellings used to describe the emu. The early colonial accounts spell it 'emue',[3] Reverend Robert Knopwood spelt it as 'emew'.[4] Other early accounts referred to it as a 'cassowary' and even an 'ostrich'.[5] George Augustus Robinson recorded two indigenous words for the Tasmanian emu. The Oyster Bay Indigenous language word for emu is Pun.nune.ner and the Brune Indigenous language word is Gonanner.[6]
^"Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis / Tasmanian emu / Emu (Tasmanian)". Species profile and threats database. Australian Government, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
^"Tasmanian emu officially extinct". The Advocate. Burnie, Tasmania. 22 August 1997. p. 11.
^"Lieutenant Governor Collin's arrival in VDL". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. 26 August 1804.
^Knopwood, Robert (1977). Nicholls, Mary (ed.). The diary of the Reverend Robert Knopwood, 1803-1838: First chaplain of Van Diemen's Land. Hobart, Tasmania: Tasmanian Historical Research Association. ISBN 0-909479-00-3. OCLC 4467573.
^"Emus at Windsor". Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen's Land Advertiser. 9 January 1824.
^Robinson, George Augustus (2008). Plomley, N.J.B. (ed.). Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian journals and papers of George Augustus Robinson, 1829-1834 (2nd ed.). Launceston, Tasmania: Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery / Quintus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9775572-2-6. OCLC 271559484.
The Tasmanianemu (Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis) is an extinct subspecies of emu. It was found in Tasmania, where it had become isolated during...
The TasmanianEmu, native to Tasmania in Australia, was a subspecies of the Emu bird. In comparison to its relative, the Emus, the TasmanianEmus were...
ratite relative, the common ostrich. The emu's native ranges cover most of the Australian mainland. The Tasmanian, Kangaroo Island and King Island subspecies...
binomial name Thylacinus cynocephalus), also commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to...
Australia and Tasmania. Its closest relative may be the also extinct Tasmanianemu (D. n. diemenensis), as they belonged to a single population until less...
to human interference, such as in the case of the thylacine or the Tasmanianemu. In Tasmania, there are about 90 endangered, vulnerable, or threatened...
– Tasmania – The Tasmanianemu, which became extinct around 1850. †Dromaius novaehollandiae minor – King Island – The King Island emu was about half the...
(Jennings, 1827) Le Souef, 1907 (Tasmanianemu) D. n. novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) (Australian emu) "Emuarius" is from "Emu" + "Casuarius". Describer W.E...
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...
The Kangaroo Island emu or dwarf emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae baudinianus) is an extinct subspecies of emu. It was restricted to Kangaroo Island, South...
Australia. The two native subspecies of emu, Tasmanianemu (Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis) and King Island emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae minor), were...
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...
extant species of emu. All present superficial similarities, along being large flightless birds. The northern cassowary and the emu share homologous features...
Dromaius Emu (D. novaehollandiae) (subspecies: †Tasmanianemu (D. n. diemenensis) †Kangaroo Island emu (D. n. baudinianus) †King Island emu (D. n. minor))...
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...
Dromaius Emu (D. novaehollandiae) (subspecies: †Tasmanianemu (D. n. diemenensis) †Kangaroo Island emu (D. n. baudinianus) †King Island emu (D. n. minor))...
Whether or not the Tasmanianemu was a separate subspecies is unclear. Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae (extirpated) Tasmanianemu, D. h. diemenensis (Ex)...
The Tasmanian Legislative Council has fifteen single member constituencies, called divisions. The fifteen Tasmanian Legislative Council divisions as of...
locality Emu Bay (Tasmanian geographic feature), on the northwest coast Burnie, Tasmania, formerly Emu Bay City of Burnie, formerly the Municipality of Emu Bay...
The Aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa kani: Palawa or Pakana) are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland...
force was more suited to hollow avian bones), such as the Tasmanian nativehen and Tasmanianemu. Eggs previously assigned to Genyornis are now considered...
known member named Martha died in captivity in 1914) Tasmanianemu (the last claimed sighting of the emu was in 1839) Japanese Sea Lion (the last confirmed...
were sold to the Emu Bay Railway and six to the Tasmanian Government Railways, with the remainder scrapped in 1954/55. The Tasmanian Government Railways...
The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government...
Note: This article consists mostly of locomotives operated by the Emu Bay Railway, Tasmanian Government Railways, AN Tasrail and TasRail and the preceding...
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