#emuarius

Fossil Novembirb: Day 19

By José Carlos Cortés on @quetzalcuetzpalin-art​

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Name: Emuarius guljaruba, E. gidju

Status: Extinct

First Described: 1987

Described By: Boles

Classification: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Palaeognathae, Notopalaeognathae, Novaeratitae, Casuariiformes 

Emuarius is what it’s name suggests - a bird that is in many ways an intermediate between the modern Emu and the modern Cassowary, which are more closely related to each other today than either are to any other bird. Emuarius has two species that lived in Australia - E. guljaruba in the Oligocene and E. gidju in the Miocene of Riversleigh. It lived from about 23 to 11.6 million years ago, from the Chattian of the Oligocene to the Serravallian of the Miocene. It had a round bill like an Emu, small eyes like a Cassowary, feet like an emu, and the rest of the body weirdly like a Cassowary - but phylogenetics have indicated it might actually be more closely related to the Emu than to the Cassowary. More research on this bird is, of course, needed. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emuarius 

http://fossilworks.org/?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=173848