New cassowary study: Australia’s most dangerous bird was once a prehistoric pet

In a new study by the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have found that humans may have been raising cassowaries from the late Pleistocene era, thousands of years ago! By examining the remains of cassowary eggs from New Guinea, the researchers were able to confirm that not only did the early humans collect and eat eggs, but also likely raised the bird as a working pet, just like the modern house chicken.

This discovery is both intriguing and shocking. Today, the cassowary is one of the most dangerous birds and the closest creature of our time to dinosaurs. With a four-foot claw and a bone weapon growing on top of its head, a cassowary can easily kill a human predator. Plus, we just started domesticating chickens 9,500 years ago!

In addition, cassowaries are extremely protective of their eggs as male birds stand guard and attack anything that approaches. Their deadly demeanor and defensive nature does not scream “farm animal”.

How did people raise cassowaries?

If cassowaries are so deadly, how did our ancestors raise them? How did they manage to collect eggs for food?

Cassowaries are known to take pictures. This means that after hatching, the first thing they see is they capture. Whatever it is, alive or not, they believe it is their mother. They will follow him wherever they go. Humans took advantage of this unique feature and, according to researchers, collected eggs shortly before they hatched.

However, there is also evidence that humans ate cassowary eggs earlier in the embryonic process. While this may seem like a dark parallel to keeping cassowaries as pets, it is similar to how modern humans eat eggs but keep chickens. Moreover, it was thousands of years ago, when survival was the first and foremost goal of humanity.

How did the researchers determine that our ancestors ate their cassowary eggs? Well, if you examine the fragments found in the rainforests of New Guinea and are between 6,000 and 18,000 years old. They determined the embryonic stage of the fragments when they were broken. Many fragments were burned and broken before the natural hatching of Pleistocene cassowaries. The fragments showed the researchers that humans interfered with natural processes during the life stages of the cassowary, probably as a food source. This is also consistent with other food-related research in Asia, where prehistoric humans took part in a practice called balut. Balut includes many cultures in Southwest Asia that eat developing embryos.

By raising cassowaries and leaving their imprint on their guardians, humans have been able to avoid the complex dangers associated with harvesting wild cassowary eggs.

Influence of casuar studies

This research has a long-term impact on the scientific world because of the clues it provides about prehistoric birds and human relationships. The populations of many prehistoric birds, such as the New Zealand moa and the elephant birds of Madagascar, have declined dramatically with the introduction of human groups into their habitat. Cassowaries have always been an exception to the mass of bird extinctions. Populations still exist in New Guinea and Australia.

Exploring the relationship between early humans and cassowaries in New Guinea’s Pleistocene will provide new insights into the relationship between large birds and humans. This study and further research will also inform about development and depletion trends in the prehistoric rainforests of New Guinea, as well as human settlement in regions that were once thought to be unoccupied by early gatherers.

Learn more about cassowaries

Want to know more about cassowary? Check out other AZ Animals articles and research on this adorable bird: