ratite*

· Grup d’ocells que enclou l’estruç, l’emú, el moa, el casuari, el nyandú i el kiwi. (C. Lalueza Fox, DNA antic, pàg. 72). L’autor no aclareix si és un mot masculí o femení: els/les ratites. Potser perquè és un mot tècnic agafat de l’anglés. En francés és masculí. En castellà he trobat el terme (vct) ave ràtida.

· Ø gdlc

· (merriam-webster) Main Entry: rat·ite

Pronunciation: 'ra-"tIt

Function: noun

Etymology: ultimately from Latin ratitus marked with the figure of a raft, from ratis raft

Date: circa 1890

: a bird with a flat breastbone; especially : any of various mostly flightless birds (as an ostrich,

rhea, emu, moa, or kiwi) with small or rudimentary wings and no keel on the sternum that are

probably of polyphyletic origin and are assigned to a number of different orders

- ratite adjective

· (ebritànica) any bird whose sternum (breastbone) is smooth, or

raftlike, for lack of a keel to which flight muscles

could be anchored. All species of ratites are thus

unable to fly. They are a peculiar and puzzling

group, with anatomic anomalies. The group

includes some of the largest birds of all time, such

as the elephant bird and the . . .