Owing to their cursorial background, ostriches (Struthio camelus) walk and run with high metabolic economy, can reach very fast running speeds and quickly execute cutting manoeuvres. These capabilities are believed to be a result of their ability to coordinate muscles to take advantage of specialized passive limb structures. This study aimed to infer the functional roles of ostrich pelvic limb ...

The organic component of the avian eggshell can be divided into 3 portions, the shell membranes, the matrix and the cuticle. These have been well characterised in the chicken but little has been published with regard to the ostrich (Struthio camelus). A number of recent studies have indicated that the cause of intra-shell embryonic deaths in the ostrich is similar to intra-shell embryonic death...

The responses of rectal temperature (RT), respiratory rate (RR) and heart rate (HR) of ostrich (struthio camelus) chicks during road transportation were investigated using standard recording procedures. The RT and RR of the ostriches increased significantly (P<0.05) from 39.5 ± 0.1 0C and 12.2 ± 2.0 breaths per minute (bpm), respectively, before transportation, to 40.2 ± 0.3 0C and 50.7 ± 9.1 b...

Ostrich (Struthio camelus) chicks less than 3 mo age are observed to experience a high mortality rate that is often associated with enteritis. This study was undertaken to investigate the infectious bacteria implicated in ostrich chick enteritis. Postmortems were performed on 122 ostrich chicks aged from 1 d to 3 mo and intestinal samples were subjected to bacterial culture. Bacterial isolates ...

Microspectrophotometry was used to determine the absorbance spectra of both rod and cone visual pigments and oil droplets from the retinae of the ostrich (Struthio camelus) and rhea (Rhea americana). Light and fluorescence microscopy of whole fresh tissue mounts were used to determine the relative numbers and distribution of oil droplets in the retinae. Both species possessed rods, double cones...

A gaping movement of the mouth, commonly called yawning, has been identified in all major classes of vertebrates, including fish (BAERENDS & BAERENDS, 1950; MORRIS, 1954), amphibians and reptiles (MCCUTCHEON, 1970), birds (MARLER, 1956; DFLIUS, 1967) and mammals (CARPENTER, 1940; BARBIZET, 1958; SCHALLER, 1972). Detailed studies of the ethology of this behavior pattern include those of SAUER & ...

In the present study we collected 177 serum samples from ostriches (Struthio camelus) infected experimentally with A/ostrich/South Africa/Middleton/2004 (H5N2) highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. We tested these samples using the haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test, the agar gel immunodiffusion test and three enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. We considered the HI test, with homolo...