The Emu is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant
member of the genus Dromaius. It is also the second-largest
flightless
bird in the world, after its ratite relative, the Ostrich. The
soft-feathered, brown birds reach up to 2 m in height and weigh up to
45 kg. The Emu is common over most of mainland Australia, although
it
avoids heavily-populated areas, dense forest and very arid areas.
Emus
can travel great distances at a fast, economical trot and, if
necessary, can sprint at 50 km/hour for some distance at a time.
They
are opportunistically nomadic, and may travel long distances to find
food; they feed on a variety of plants and insects. The Emu
subspecies
that inhabited Tasmania became extinct following the European
settlement of Australia in 1788; the distribution of the mainland
subspecies has also been affected by human activities. The Emu was
once common on the east coast, but is now uncommon there; by
contrast,
the development of agriculture and the provision of water for stock
in
the interior of the continent has increased the range of the Emu in
arid regions. Emus are farmed for their meat, oil and leather.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu
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Today's selected anniversaries:
476:
Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was
deposed.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_Augustus)
1260:
Florence and Siena fought in the Battle of Montaperti, as part of the
conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Montaperti)
1886:
After years of fighting against the U.S. Army and the armed forces of
Mexico, Geronimo of the Chiricahua Apache surrendered in Arizona.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo)
1956:
The IBM RAMAC 305, the first commercial computer that used magnetic
disk storage, was introduced.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_305)
1972:
Mark Spitz won his seventh swimming gold medal at the 1972 Summer
Olympics in Munich, West Germany, becoming the first Olympian to win
seven gold medals at the same Olympic games.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Spitz)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his
work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body;
his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which.
He
simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing,
and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To
himself, he always appears to be doing both." -- François-René de
Chateaubriand
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois-Ren%C3%
A9_de_Chateaubriand)