Editing Common ostrich (section)

{{Short description|Species of flightless bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Common ostrich
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|15|0}}{{small|Early [[Miocene]] to [[Holocene|Present]]}}
| image = Struthio camelus - Etosha 2014 (3).jpg
| image_caption = [[South African ostrich|South African]] (''S. c. australis'') male (left) and females 
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Struthio camelus'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T45020636A132189458 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T45020636A132189458.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A1 
| status2_system = CITES 
| status2_ref = <ref name="CITESAppendices">{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=14 January 2022|website=cites.org}}</ref>{{NoteTag|Only populations of Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. No other population is included in the CITES Appendices.}}
| genus = Struthio
| species = camelus
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]<ref name="SN"/>
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision_ref = <ref name="SN"/>
| subdivision = 
*''[[North African ostrich|S. c. camelus]]'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]</small> North African ostrich
*''[[South African ostrich|S. c. australis]]'' <small>[[John Henry Gurney|Gurney]], 1868</small> South African ostrich 
*''[[Masai ostrich|S. c. massaicus]]'' <small>[[Oscar Rudolph Neumann|Neumann]], 1898</small> Masai ostrich
*†''[[Arabian ostrich|S. c. syriacus]]'' <small>[[Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild|Rothschild]], 1919</small> Arabian ostrich
| range_map = Struthio camelus distribution.svg
| range_map_caption = ''Struthio'' distribution map
{{aligned table|cols=2|style=text-align:left;margin:auto;
|{{Color box|#FFA360|border=darkgray}} ''S. c. camelus''|&nbsp;{{Color box|#FF7166|border=darkgray}} ''S. c. australis''
|{{Color box|#4FF55A|border=darkgray}} ''S. c. massaicus''|&nbsp;{{Color box|#FFFF3B|border=darkgray}} ''S. molybdophanes''
}}<!-- End of legend/key table for caption... -->
|synonyms = {{collapsible list|''Charadrius bidactylus'' <small>[[George Robert Gray|G. R. Gray]], 1847</small>|''Struthio australis'' <small>[[John Henry Gurney Sr.|Gurney]], 1868</small>|''Struthio massaicus'' <small>[[Oscar Rudolph Neumann|Neumann]], 1898</small>|''Struthio camelus spatzi'' <small>[[Erwin Stresemann|Stresemann]], 1926</small>|''Struthio camelus rothschildi'' <small>[[Claude H. B. Grant|Grant]] & [[Cyril Mackworth-Praed|Mackworth-Praed]], 1951</small>
}}
|synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite book |last1=Gray |first1=George Robert |title=The Genera of Birds Comprising Their Generic Characters, a Notice of the Habits of Each Genus, and an Extensive List of Species Referred to Their Several Genera |date=1849 |publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster-Row |location=London, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster-Row |edition=3 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/219683#page/157/mode/1up |access-date=1 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gurney |first1=J. H. |title=Notes on Mr. Layard's 'Birds of South Africa'. |journal=The Ibis |date=July 1868 |volume=4 |issue=15 |pages=253-254 |doi=10.1111/j.1474-919x.1868.tb06118.x |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16341748#page/279/mode/1up |access-date=1 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Neumann |first1=Oscar |title=Beiträge zur Vogelfauna von Ost- und Central-Afrika |journal=Journal für Ornithologie |date=1898 |volume=46 |page=243 |doi=10.1007/bf02208449 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33428623#page/255/mode/1up |access-date=1 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Die Vogelausbeute des Herrn Paul Spatz in Rio de Oro.|last1=Stresemann |first1=Erwin |journal=Ornithologische Monatsberichte |date=1926 |volume=34 |issue=5|page=138}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grant |first1=C. H. B. |last2=Mackworth-Praed |first2=C. W. |title=On the Type Locality of ''Struthio camelus'' Linnaeus, and Description of a New Race |journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club |date=1951 |volume=71 |issue=7 |pages=45-46 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/125665#page/141/mode/1up |access-date=1 December 2024}}</ref>
}}

The '''common ostrich''' ('''''Struthio camelus'''''), or simply '''ostrich''', is a [[species]] of [[flightless bird]] native to certain areas of Africa. It is one of two extant species of ostriches, the only living members of the [[genus]] ''[[Struthio]]'' in the [[ratite]] group of birds. The other is the [[Somali ostrich]] (''Struthio molybdophanes''), which has been recognized as a distinct species by [[BirdLife International]] since 2014, having been previously considered a distinctive subspecies of ostrich.<ref name="SN"/><ref name=IUCN_molybdophanes>{{cite iucn|author= BirdLife International|author-link= BirdLife International| page= e.T22732795A95049558 |title= ''Struthio molybdophanes'' |year= 2016 |access-date= 15 February 2020}}</ref>

The common ostrich belongs to the [[order (biology)|order]] [[Struthioniformes]]. Struthioniformes previously contained all the ratites, such as the [[Kiwi (bird)|kiwis]], [[emu]]s, [[Rhea (bird)|rheas]], and [[Cassowary|cassowaries]]. However, recent genetic analysis has found that the group is not monophyletic, as it is paraphyletic with respect to the [[tinamou]]s, so the ostriches are now classified as the only members of the order.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yuri|first1=Tamaki|last2=Kimball|first2=Rebecca|last3=Harshman|first3=John|last4=Bowie|first4=Rauri|last5=Braun|first5=Michael|last6=Chojnowski|first6=Jena|last7=Han|first7=Kin-Lan|last8=Hackett|first8=Shannon|last9=Huddleston|first9=Christopher|last10=Moore|first10=William|last11=Reddy|first11=Sushma|date=13 March 2013|title=Parsimony and Model-Based Analyses of Indels in Avian Nuclear Genes Reveal Congruent and Incongruent Phylogenetic Signals|journal=Biology|volume=2|issue=1|pages=419–444|doi=10.3390/biology2010419|pmid=24832669|pmc=4009869|issn=2079-7737|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |title=Faculty of 1000 evaluation for A phylogenomic study of birds reveals their evolutionary history. |last=Clarke |first=Andrew |date=14 July 2008 |doi=10.3410/f.1115666.571731 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Phylogenetic]] studies have shown that it is the sister group to all other members of [[Palaeognathae]], and thus the flighted tinamous are the sister group to the extinct [[moa]].<ref name = "Mitchell2014">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1126/science.1251981| pmid = 24855267| title = Ancient DNA reveals elephant birds and kiwi are sister taxa and clarifies ratite bird evolution| journal = Science| volume = 344| issue = 6186| pages = 898–900| date = 23 May 2014| last1 = Mitchell | first1 = K. J.| last2 = Llamas | first2 = B.| last3 = Soubrier | first3 = J.| last4 = Rawlence | first4 = N. J.| last5 = Worthy | first5 = T. H.| last6 = Wood | first6 = J.| last7 = Lee | first7 = M. S. Y.| last8 = Cooper | first8 = A.| url = http://dspace.flinders.edu.au/xmlui/bitstream/2328/35953/1/Mitchell_AncientDNA_AM2014.pdf| bibcode = 2014Sci...344..898M| hdl = 2328/35953| s2cid = 206555952| hdl-access = free}}</ref><ref name = "Baker2014">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1093/molbev/msu153| title = Genomic Support for a Moa-Tinamou Clade and Adaptive Morphological Convergence in Flightless Ratites| journal = Molecular Biology and Evolution| year = 2014| last1 = Baker | first1 = A. J.| last2 = Haddrath | first2 = O.| last3 = McPherson | first3 = J. D.| last4 = Cloutier | first4 = A.| volume=31 | issue = 7| pages=1686–1696 | pmid=24825849| doi-access = free}}</ref> It is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck and legs, and can run for a long time at a speed of {{cvt|55|km/h}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sellers |first1=W. I. |last2=Manning |first2=P. L. |year=2007 |title=Estimating dinosaur maximum running speeds using evolutionary robotics |journal=Proc. R. Soc. B |volume=274 |issue=1626 |pages=2711–2716 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2007.0846 |pmid=17711833 |pmc=2279215 |url=http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/274/1626/2711}}</ref> with short bursts up to about {{cvt|97|km/h}},<ref name="Davies"/> the [[Fastest animals|fastest land speed]] of any bipedal animal and the second fastest of all land animals after the [[cheetah]].<ref name=Doherty/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-15 |title=Explained: How Fast Can An Ostrich Run {{!}} BirdJoy |url=https://www.birdjoy.org/articles/how-fast-can-an-ostrich-run/ |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Bird Joy |language=en-US}}</ref> The common ostrich is the [[Largest and heaviest animals|largest living species]] of bird and thus the [[Dinosaur size|largest]] [[Origin of birds|living dinosaur]].<ref>[https://physicsworld.com/a/deducing-how-dinosaurs-moved/ Physics World, February 2, 2017]</ref> It lays [[Ostrich egg|the largest eggs]] of any living bird (the extinct giant elephant bird (''Aepyornis maximus'') of [[Madagascar]] and the south island giant moa (''Dinornis robustus'') of New Zealand laid larger eggs). Ostriches are the most dangerous birds on the planet for humans, with an average of two to three deaths being recorded each year in [[South Africa]].<ref name = "OstrichTrauma">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.amsu.2014.12.004| title = Abdominal trauma by ostrich| journal = Annals of Medicine & Surgery| year = 2015 | last1 = Usurelu | first1 = Sergiu | last2 = Bettencourt| first2 = Vanessa | last3 = Melo| first3 =  Gina | volume=4 | issue = 1| pages=41–43| doi-access = free| pmid = 25685344| pmc = 4323753}}</ref>

The common ostrich's diet consists mainly of plant matter, though it also eats [[invertebrate]]s and small reptiles. It lives in nomadic groups of 5 to 50 birds. When threatened, the ostrich will either hide itself by lying flat against the ground or run away. If cornered, it can attack with a kick of its powerful legs. Mating patterns differ by geographical region, but territorial males fight for a harem of two to seven females.

The common ostrich is [[farming|farmed]] around the world, particularly for its feathers, which are decorative and are also used as [[feather duster]]s. Its skin is used for [[Ostrich leather|leather]] products and its meat is marketed commercially, with its leanness a common marketing point.<ref name="Davies"/>