Island syndrome

The southern cassowary, a ratite native to Indonesia, New Guinea and northeastern Australia[1] which exhibits island gigantism and sexually monomorphic plumage, both features of island syndrome

Island syndrome describes the differences in morphology, ecology, physiology and behaviour of insular species compared to their continental counterparts. These differences evolve due to the different ecological pressures affecting insular species, including a paucity of large predators and herbivores as well as a consistently mild climate.[2][3]

  1. ^ Clements, James (2007). The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World (6th ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-4501-9.
  2. ^ Baeckens, Simon; Van Damme, Raoul (20 April 2020). "The island syndrome". Current Biology. 30 (8): R329–R339. Bibcode:2020CBio...30.R338B. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.03.029. PMID 32315628.
  3. ^ Gavriilidi, Ioanna; De Meester, Gilles; Van Damme, Raoul; Baeckens, Simon (2022). "How to behave when marooned: the behavioural component of the island syndrome remains underexplored". Biology Letters. 18 (4): 20220030. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2022.0030. PMC 9039784. PMID 35440235.