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ratite
This term is primarily used in biological and zoological contexts to categorize a specific group of flightless birds. It is a technical descriptor that focuses on the anatomical absence of the keel on the sternum, which is the bone where flight muscles normally attach in flying birds.
In a scientific register, it serves as a precise classification tool. While a layperson might simply use the term flightless bird, a biologist uses ratite to distinguish these specific birds from other flightless species, such as penguins, which possess a keel despite their inability to fly.
Meanings
Examples
The ostrich is the largest living ratite in the world.
Look at this diagram of ratite anatomy to see the flat sternum.
The museum exhibit features a fossilized ratite from the Pleistocene epoch.
I wonder if all ratite species evolved from a single common ancestor.
We are studying the evolutionary traits of ratite birds this semester.
We are studying the evolutionary traits of ratite birds this semester.
The cassowary is a powerful and dangerous ratite found in New Guinea.