13 August 2023

Imagine a bout between a Cassowary and an Emu -  two left overs from the dinosaur era.They are two of the three largest prehistoric birds left on the planet.

How do they match up? Well the Cassowary is heavier, it's claws extremely powerful and it's very protective of it's territory. It would easily win.

But what would it win? It would win a one on one match up with an emu. But what of the sister species vs sister species? The emu is the hands down winner for adaptability. It roams the country, in fact the only territory it doesn't like is the dense rainforest preferred by the cassowary. That environment is getting smaller. In contrast, the emu's adaptability to a range of environments plus its speed makes it a brilliant survivor. 

Recall the Great Emu War of 1932. Australian military personel were employed to mow emus down with machine guns to reduce numbers on pastoral land. The emus outran and outmanoevred all attempts to control them. Go emus!

This story was prompted by an archived article in The Conversation.