Rhea americana

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

The Rhea inhabits grassland and open brush of South America. Although a swift runner , it may crouch in the presence of danger.

Threatened

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Vegetation: campo grasslands, low seasonally wet grasslands, cerrado, southern temperate grasslands • Maximum Elevation: 1,200 meters • Foraging Strata: Terrestrial • Center of Abundance: Lower tropical: lowlands, lower than 500 m.; tropics. • Sensitivity to Disturbancet: Low

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 625 meters (0 to 2,051 feet).[1]

Biome: Terrestrial

Ecology: List of Habitats : 2.1 Savanna - Dry 4.4 Grassland - Temperate 4.6 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded

Biology

Diet

[Migration]

Reproduction

Several females lay eggs in a communal nest . A single male then does most of the incubation , which lasts about 35 days. Rhea chicks are able to walk and eat on their own within a day of hatching .

Behavior

Predators:

Very fast runners , they use their speed to escape from predators .

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 27-Dec-2005.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Rhea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 13 species and subspecies in this genus:

R. americana (American Rhea) · R. americana albescens · R. americana americana (Greater Rhea) · R. americana araneipes · R. americana intermedia · R. americana nobilis · R. macrorhyncha · R. nana (Dwarf Rhea) · R. pennata · R. pennata garleppi · R. pennata pennata (Darwin's Rhea) · R. pennata tarapacensis · R. rothschildi

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

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• Annals and magazine of natural history: including zoology, botany and geology London. url p. 142, p. 145, p. 334.
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Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed December 09, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 6 providers.
• Peterson, Alan P. Zoological Nomenclature Resource. Accessed June 19, 2009.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 09, 2007:

• Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Bishop Museum Natural History Specimen Data
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB, Paleobiology Database
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
• , Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3845395
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-174379
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13536253
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 174379
• IUCN ID: 19465
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 10618

Footnotes

1. Mean = 243.180 meters (797.835 feet), Standard Deviation = 206.890 based on 11 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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