ratite

Meaning

Adj

Pertaining to running, flightless birds with no keels on their sternums (as opposed to carinate).

Noun

A member of a diverse group of mostly large, running, flightless birds that lack keels on their sternums, mostly extinct such as the elephant bird and moa, but including the extant cassowaries, emu, kiwi, ostrich, and rhea; formerly grouped together in the order Struthioniformes, and including the Paleognathae except the tinamous.

Synonyms

ratite bird

flightless bird

emu

kiwi

ostrich

Translations

كيوي

estruç

kiwi

emú

estrutioniforme

Emu

Kiwi

Moa

Afrikanischer Strauß

Strauss

Afrikanischer Strauss

στρουθοκάμηλος

πτηνά κατηγορίας ratite

autruche

نعامة

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɹætaɪt/

Etymology

From Latin ratis (“raft”) + -ite; ratites (unlike other birds) lack a keel on their sternum, and rafts are vessels that lack keels.