Struthio camelus
Linnaeus, 1758 · speciesAt a glance
Sources14 archives
Databases and archives Struthio camelus's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation22 languages↗
Animal Diversity WebUniv. of Michigan MZspecies account↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility124 542 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI18 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics22 specimens↗
FooDBThe Metabolomics Innovation Centrecompounds↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Paleobiology DatabasePBDB consortiumfossil record↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
IOC World Bird ListIOCbird checklist↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
The common ostrich (Struthio camelus), or simply ostrich, is a species of flightless bird native to certain large areas of Africa and is the largest living bird species. It is one of two extant species of ostriches, the only living members of the genus Struthio in the ratite order of birds. The other is the Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes), which was recognized as a distinct species by BirdLife International in 2014 having been previously considered a distinctive subspecies of ostrich. The common ostrich belongs to the order Struthioniformes. Struthioniformes previously contained all the ratites, such as the kiwis, emus, rheas, and cassowaries. However, recent genetic analysis has found that the group is not monophyletic, as it is paraphyletic with respect to the tinamous, so the ostriches are now classified as the only members of the order. Phylogenetic studies have shown that it is the sister group to all other members of Palaeognathae and thus the flighted tinamous are the sister group to the extinct moa. It is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck and legs, and can run for a long time at a speed of 55 km/hSellers, W. I. & Manning, P. L. (2007). "Estimating dinosaur maximum running speeds using evolutionary robotics". Proc. R. Soc. B. The Royal Society. 274 (1626): 2711–6. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0846 with short bursts up to about 70 km/h, the fastest land speed of any bird. The common ostrich is the largest living species of bird and largest living dinosaur. It lays the largest eggs of any living bird (the extinct elephant birds of Madagascar and the giant moa of New Zealand laid larger eggs). The common ostrich's diet consists mainly of plant matter, though it also eats invertebrates and small reptiles. It lives in nomadic groups of 5 to 50 birds. When threatened, the ostrich will either hide itself by lying flat against the ground or run away. If cornered, it can attack with a kick of its powerful legs. Mating patterns differ by geographical region, but territorial males fight for a harem of two to seven females. The common ostrich is farmed around the world, particularly for its feathers, which are decorative and are also used as feather dusters. Its skin is used for leather products and its meat is marketed commercially, with its leanness a common marketing point.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology13
Life cycle & reproduction8
Diet & foraging7
Habitat & environment4
Physiology & chemistry1
Compounds documented for Struthio camelus across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds42 428 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| (1R,16Z,24Z,29Z)-1,18-dihydroxy-12-[1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)propan-2-yl]-19,31-dimethoxy-15,17,21,23,30,36-hexamethyl-11,27,37-trioxa-4-azatetracyclo[31.3.1.0⁴,⁹.0²⁶,²⁸]heptatriaconta-16,24,29-triene-2,3,10,14,20-pentone | present | FooDB | |
| (2,6-dihydroxy-4-{4-hydroxy-7-methyl-11-oxo-2,8-dioxatricyclo[7.3.1.0⁵,¹³]trideca-1(12),3,5(13),6,9-pentaen-3-yl}phenoxy)dihydroxyoxo-λ⁶-sulfanylium | present | FooDB | |
| (4-{2-[(1R,16Z,24Z,29Z)-1,18-dihydroxy-19,31-dimethoxy-15,17,21,23,30,36-hexamethyl-2,3,10,14,20-pentaoxo-11,27,37-trioxa-4-azatetracyclo[31.3.1.0⁴,⁹.0²⁶,²⁸]heptatriaconta-16,24,29-trien-12-yl]propyl}-2-methoxycyclohexyl)oxidanesulfonic acid | present | FooDB | |
| (E)-3-decen-1-ol | present | FooDB | |
| 1,3-Diisopropylbenzene | present | FooDB | |
| 1-Aminopyrene | present | FooDB | |
| 1-Hydroxypyrene glucuronide | present | FooDB | |
| 1-Nitroheptane | present | FooDB | |
| 1-Nitrohexane | present | FooDB | |
| 1-palmitoylglycerol 3-phosphate | present | FooDB |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Struthio camelus has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Struthio camelus carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard periods (Jurassic, Cretaceous…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. The dashed rules marked ✦ are the five great mass extinctions. The solid bar is the fossil range: the span between the oldest and the youngest fossil that palaeontologists have assigned to Struthio camelus. Above itBeside it, the bars count how many dated finds fall in each slice of time; the tallest bar is labelled, and heights use a square-root scale so that thin slices stay visible next to rich ones. Read this as how well each stretch of time is preserved and studied — thick bars mean plenty of the right kind of rock and plenty of collectors, which is related to, but not the same as, how common it actually was. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil. Where the DNA reaches further back than the oldest fossil, the gap is hatched: the ghost lineage. It means the lineage was already out there, but has left us nothing we have dug up yet.
How it livedPBDB
Record type124 566 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions21 of 36 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Ann Arbor, US | 15 |
| Seattle, US | 14 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 13 |
| Berkeley, US | 12 |
| Chicago, US | 11 |
| München, DE | 6 |
| Ohio State University - Bird Division, Columbus, OH (OSUM)location not on record | 6 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 4 |
| Mongolian Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 4 |
| Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record | 3 |
| Denver, US | 3 |
| Tilburg, NL | 3 |
| South Kensington, GB | 3 |
| Brussels, BE | 2 |
| Geneva, CH | 2 |
| Ugentlocation not on record | 2 |
| RBINS-Scientific Heritagelocation not on record | 2 |
| Puerto Ayora, EC | 1 |
| MNHAHlocation not on record | 1 |
| Toronto, CA | 1 |
| Iowa City, US | 1 |
| IMEDEAlocation not on record | 1 |
| Cambridge, US | 1 |
| Saint John, CA | 1 |
| Honolulu, US | 1 |
| US | 1 |
| BG-NMNHSlocation not on record | 1 |
| QVMAGlocation not on record | 1 |
| DOI/NPS, Salem Maritime National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Nebraska State Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Kuopio, FI | 1 |
| Natick, US | 1 |
| SNSDlocation not on record | 1 |
| EL PASO, US | 1 |
| ASNHClocation not on record | 1 |
| Chicago, US | 1 |
Where the DNA of Struthio camelus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.