Definitions of ratite bird
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flightless birds having flat breastbones lacking a keel for attachment of flight muscles: ostriches; cassowaries; emus; moas; rheas; kiwis; elephant birds
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synonyms:
flightless bird, ratite
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Antonyms:
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carinate, carinate bird, flying bird
birds having keeled breastbones for attachment of flight muscles
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types:
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Struthio camelus, ostrich
fast-running African flightless bird with two-toed feet; largest living bird
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cassowary
large black flightless bird of Australia and New Guinea having a horny head crest
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Dromaius novaehollandiae, Emu novaehollandiae, emu
large Australian flightless bird similar to the ostrich but smaller
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apteryx, kiwi
nocturnal flightless bird of New Zealand having a long neck and stout legs; only surviving representative of the order Apterygiformes
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Rhea americana, rhea
larger of two tall fast-running flightless birds similar to ostriches but three-toed; found from Brazil to Patagonia
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Pterocnemia pennata, nandu, rhea
smaller of two tall fast-running flightless birds similar to ostriches but three-toed; found from Peru to Strait of Magellan
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aepyornis, elephant bird
huge (to 9 ft.) extinct flightless bird of Madagascar
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moa
extinct flightless bird of New Zealand
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Dinornis giganteus, giant moa
the largest moa; about 12 feet high
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Anomalopteryx oweni, anomalopteryx
the smallest moa; slender moa about the size of a large turkey
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type of:
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bird
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
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carinate, carinate bird, flying bird
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