### animal | vertebrate | bird:

Cassowary
* Cassowaries Can be a very dangerous bird
  - adapt to environments
* Cassowaries also dislike cats
  - eat fungi, snails, and even small animals
* Cassowaries are a keystone species which means they are vital for seed dispersal in the rainforest
  - threatened species
  - among the largest birds in the world
* Cassowaries are capable of breeding when they are three years old
  - swimmers
  - considered the most dangerous bird in the world
  - distributed throughout the western and southern areas of New Guinea
  - endangered and continue to lose habitat and be killed by vehicles and dogs
  - found in just about every part of northeastern Australia
  - frugivores that feed on the fruits of several hundred rain forest plants
  - frugivorous birds
  - important for seed dispersal through the forest
  - in danger of becoming extinct because of habitat loss
  - large flightless birds
  - native to New Guinea and northeastern Australia
  - one of four species within a group of large, flightless birds
  - predominantly frugivorous
  - primarily nocturnal
  - rain-forest dwellers, feeding mainly on fruit and berries and nesting on the ground
  - ratites
  - similar in appearance to the ostriches and emus
* Cassowaries are solitary birds except during mating and the egg-laying period
  - territorial and contact between adults generally only occurs during mating
* Cassowaries are the heaviest bird in Australia
  - most colourful of the ratites
  - true rainforest birds
  - usually solitary, and males are subordinate to females if they meet
  - very important to the native people of New Guinea both economically and ritually
  - wary, aggressive birds, active mainly at night
  - are, however, omnivorous although their preferred food is fruit
* Cassowaries can be dangerous when cornered
  - easily leap high enough to kick an adult person at chest height
  - come into contact
  - defend territory
* Cassowaries eat a wide variety of fruiting bodies off of the plants themselves
  - face a range of threats arising from human activities
  - feed mainly fruit, vegetation, flowers and the occasional small mammal or reptile
* Cassowaries feed on fleshy fruit
  - fruits and small animals
* Cassowaries have a fairly primitive digestive system compared to other birds
  - long history of association with the forest tribes of New Guinea
  - reputation in folklore for being dangerous to people and domestic animals
  - beaks
  - glands
  - large brown eyes and a long, curved beak
  - powerful legs and a helmet-like crest on the head
  - roles
  - senses
  - three toes on each foot
  - three- toed feet with sharp claws
  - wings
  - help regenerate the rainforest by dispersing large seeds over considerable distances
* Cassowaries includes air sacs
  - bird's feet
  - brains
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - faces
  - flight feathers
  - heads
  - lips
  - mouths
  - nuclei
  - plasma membranes
  - quill feathers
  - rib cages
  - second joints
  - sections
  - skulls
  - sterna
  - talons
  - vacuoles
  - wishbones
* Cassowaries live in rainforest regions, and eat mainly fruit, insects and small vertebrate animals
  - the coastal tropical rainforest of Queensland
  - look like turkeys
  - mainly eat fruit and seeds that are on low branches or on the ground
  - make sound
  - need areas
  - normally live, nest and breed in a tropical rainforest
  - roam in a large rainforest lined creek enclosure
  - survive years
* Cassowaries use feet
  - their feet as weapons
* Most cassowaries adapt to environments
* Most cassowaries feed on fleshy fruit
* Most cassowaries have beaks
* Some cassowaries adapt to life
  - care for chicks
* Some cassowaries eat animals
  - fruit berries
  - has-part legs
* Some cassowaries have chicks
  - helmets
  - similar appearances
  - stripes
  - tails
  - kill boys
* Some cassowaries kill old boys
  - year boys
* Some cassowaries lack feathers
  - tail feathers
  - leave territory
  - live for years
* Some cassowaries live in areas
  - different areas
  - rainforests
  - tropical rainforests
  - raise chicks
+ Cassowary, Description: Birds of Australia :: Ratites :: Endangered species :: Flightless birds :: Struthioniformes
  * Cassowaries have three toes on each foot. Each has a sharp claw. The middle toe has a claw like a dagger, which is  long. Because a cassowary can kick, this claw is very dangerous and can hurt or kill enemies. Scientists believe they can run up to.