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The King Island Emu or Black Emu (Dromaius ater) is an extinct ratite
Ratite

A ratite is any of a diverse group of large, flightless birds of Gondwanan origin, most of them now extinct. Unlike other flightless birds, the ratites have no keel on their sternum - hence their name which comes from the Latin for raft....
 species which occurred on King Island
King Island, Tasmania

King Island is one of the islands that make up the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is by far the largest of a group known as New Year Islands, comprising King Island, New Year Island and Christmas Island to the northwest and smaller Councillor Island to the east....
 between mainland Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
. It is known from subfossil
Subfossil

Subfossil refers to remains whose fossilization process is not complete, either for lack of time or because the condition in which they were buried were not optimal for fossilization....
 bones and one museum specimen.

ad darker plumage and was much smaller than other emu
Emu

The Emu , Dromaius novaehollandiae, is the largest bird native to Australia and the only Extant taxon member of the genus Dromaius. It is also the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich....
s, with only half the weight of the mainland birds. It was about tall and weighed . The jeveniles were grey, while the chicks were striped like other emus.






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The King Island Emu or Black Emu (Dromaius ater) is an extinct ratite
Ratite

A ratite is any of a diverse group of large, flightless birds of Gondwanan origin, most of them now extinct. Unlike other flightless birds, the ratites have no keel on their sternum - hence their name which comes from the Latin for raft....
 species which occurred on King Island
King Island, Tasmania

King Island is one of the islands that make up the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is by far the largest of a group known as New Year Islands, comprising King Island, New Year Island and Christmas Island to the northwest and smaller Councillor Island to the east....
 between mainland Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
. It is known from subfossil
Subfossil

Subfossil refers to remains whose fossilization process is not complete, either for lack of time or because the condition in which they were buried were not optimal for fossilization....
 bones and one museum specimen.

Description

It had darker plumage and was much smaller than other emu
Emu

The Emu , Dromaius novaehollandiae, is the largest bird native to Australia and the only Extant taxon member of the genus Dromaius. It is also the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich....
s, with only half the weight of the mainland birds. It was about tall and weighed . The jeveniles were grey, while the chicks were striped like other emus. They ate berries, grass and seaweed, and they reportedly liked the shady area of lagoons and the shoreline. Its taxonomy has been subject to much debate because of confusion with the Kangaroo Island Emu
Kangaroo Island Emu

Kangaroo Island Emu or Dwarf Emu is an extinct member of the bird family Casuariidae. It was restricted to Kangaroo Island, South Australia....
, and only was resolved in 1984 by Shane A. Parker
Shane A. Parker

Shane A. Parker was a United Kingdom-born museum curator and ornithologist, who emigrated to Australia in 1967. He worked as a curator at the South Australian Museum 1976-1992....
.

Extinction

The King Island Emu was discovered by the Baudin
Nicolas Baudin

Nicolas-Thomas Baudin was a France explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer.Baudin was born in Saint-Martin-de-R? on the Ile de R?....
 expedition in 1802. Two or three individuals were brought back to France in 1804 and were kept in captivity in the Jardin des Plantes
Jardin des Plantes

The Jardin des Plantes is the main botanical garden in France. It is one of seven departments of the Mus?um national d'histoire naturelle....
, the last one dying in 1822. One of these last birds remains today as the sole surviving skin in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

The Mus?um national d'Histoire naturelle is the France national museum of natural history....
. At the time of the death of the last captive bird, the species was long gone from King Island, having been killed off by hunting and, apparently, fires started by visiting sailors.

Footnotes