ostrichlike

Ostrichlike is an English adjective describing something that resembles an ostrich in form or behavior. In biology and paleontology, it is used to refer to organisms—usually birds or their fossils—that share key ostrich characteristics, such as large size, ground-dwelling habits, long legs, a long neck, reduced wings, and the capacity for rapid terrestrial locomotion. The term is descriptive rather than taxonomic and is often applied to ratites, a group of largely flightless birds that includes ostriches and their relatives like rheas, emus, cassowaries, and kiwis, whose overall body plan resembles that of an ostrich without implying a close evolutionary relationship.

Common ostrichlike features include a tall, robust body, proportionally long legs, and wings that are small or vestigial. In fossil ratites, scientists describe certain genera as ostrichlike when limb bones indicate adaptations for running and a reduced capacity for flight. The term can also appear in discussions of extinct birds such as moa or elephant birds, which show analogous ostrichlike morphology despite being different lineages.

Usage notes: Ostrichlike is a descriptive term used mainly in comparative anatomy and paleontology. It should be used cautiously, as being ostrichlike does not necessarily mean close phylogenetic relatedness to the modern ostrich, and various large flightless birds may converge on similar body plans.