Australian Cassowary Skull Replica or Southern Cassowary Skull Replica measures 6.3 inches. Southern Cassowary Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in USA. Cast of an original Private collection.
Australian Cassowary Skull Replica or Southern Cassowary Skull Replica measures 6.3 inches. Southern Cassowary Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in USA. Cast of an original Private collection.
The Southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius), also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary, or two-wattled cassowary, is a large flightless black bird, found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and northeastern Australia.
It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf cassowary and the northern cassowary. It is a ratite and therefore related to the emu, ostriches, rheas and kiwis.
The Australian population of the Casuarius casuarius or Southern Cassowry is listed as Endangered under federal and Queensland state legislation.
The Southern cassowary has stiff, bristly black plumage, a blue face and a long neck, red on the cape and two red wattles measuring around 7.0 in. in length hanging down around its throat. A horn-like brown casque, measuring 5.1 to 6.7 in. high, sits atop the head.
The C. casaurius or Southern Cassowry bill can range from 3.9 to 7.5 in. The plumage is sexually monomorphic, but the female is dominant and larger with a longer casque, larger bill and brighter-colored bare parts. The juveniles have brown longitudinal striped plumage.
The three-toed feet are thick and powerful, equipped with a lethal dagger-like claw up to 4.7 inches on the inner toe.
The cassowary breeding season starts in May to June. Females lay three to eight large, bright green or pale green-blue eggs in each clutch into a heap of leaf litter prepared by the male. The male sits on the eggs for almost 2 months. The eggs measure about 3.5 by 5.5 inches – only ostrich and emu eggs are larger.
Although the chicks are ready to leave the nest and walk around just a few hours after hatching, they need about nine months of parental care until they are ready to strike out on their own.
In the wild, they live for 18 to 20 years. In human care, cassowaries can live up to 40 years.
C. casaurius or Southern Cassowry is perhaps the largest member of the cassowary family and is tied as the third heaviest bird on earth (after the Somali ostrich and the common ostrich), at a maximum size estimated at 187 lb. and 6 ft 3 in. tall.
The southern cassowary is distributed in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and northeastern Australia. It mainly inhabits tropical rainforests but may make use of nearby savannah forests or mangroves stands. The species prefers elevations below 3,600 ft. in Australia, and 1,600 ft. in New Guinea.
