Casuariidae Casuariidae The bird family Casuariidae has four surviving members: the three species of cassowary and the emu. All living members of the family are very large flightless birds native to Australia-New Guinea, though the extinct potential member "Hypselornis" was native to India. The characteristics of the family are those of its members. The fossil record of casuariforms is interesting, but not very extensive. Some Australian fossils initially believed to be from emus were recognized to represent a distinct genus, "Emuarius", which had a cassowary-like skull and femur and an emu-like lower leg and foot. A Pliocene Indian ratite, "Hypselornis", has
Rufous-crowned emu-wren Rufous-crowned emu-wren The rufous-crowned emu-wren ("Stipiturus ruficeps") is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia. The rufous-crowned emu-wren is one of three species of the genus "Stipiturus", commonly known as emu-wrens, found across southern and central Australia. It was first described in 1899 by Archibald James Campbell, more than a century after its relative the southern emu-wren. Its species name is derived from the Latin words "rufus" "red" and "caput" "head". No subspecies are recognised, although birds from Western Australia may have redder plumage, and females more blue on the face and