Somali Ostrich

SCI Name:  Struthio molybdophanes
Protonym:  Struthio molybdophanes Mitt.Orn. p.202
Taxonomy:  Struthioniformes / Struthionidae / Struthio
Taxonomy Code:  ostric3
Type Locality:  Somaliland.
Author:  Reichenow
Publish Year:  1883
IUCN Status:  Vulnerable

DEFINITIONS

STRUTHIO
(Struthionidae; Ϯ Common Ostrich S. camelus) L. struthiocamelus ostrich (“camel bird,” because of its size and cursorial habits)  < Gr. στρουθοκαμηλος strouthokamēlos or στρουθος strouthos (the latter usually applied to small, sparrow-like birds, but here used in the sense of THE (great) bird) (L. passer marinus (often abbreviated to passer) ostrich (because it was imported by sea)) (cf. Late L. struthio or struthius  ostrich); "86. STRUTHIO.  Rostrum conicum.  Alæ ad volandum ineptæ." (Linnaeus 1758); "Struthio Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 155. Type, by subsequent designation, Struthio camelus Linné. (Gray, List Gen. Bds., 1840, p. 63.)" (Peters 1931, I, 3).  Linnaeus's Struthio comprised four species (S. Camelus, S. Casuarius, S. americanus, S. cucullatus). The Common or African Ostrich formerly occurred in the deserts of Arabia and the Middle East, but has not been seen there since 1940.
Synon. Megaloscelornis, Pachystruthio, Palaeostruthio, Struthiolithus.

struthio
Late L. struthio, struthionis  ostrich or any large bird  < L. struthiocamelus  ostrich  < Gr. στρουθοκαμηλος strouthokamēlos  ostrich.

molybdophanes
Gr. μολυβδοφανης molubdophanēs  lead-coloured  < μολυβδος molubdos  lead; -φανης -phanēs  showing, appearance  < φαινω phainō  to show.

Molybdophanes
(Threskiornithidae; syn. Theristicus † Plumbeous Ibis T. caerulescens) Gr. μολυβδοφανης molubdophanēs  lead-coloured  < μολυβδος molubdos  lead;  -φανης   -phanēs  showing, appearance  < φαινω phainō  to show; "Genera et Species typicae.  ...  δ. *Molybdophanes Rchb.  coerulescens (Ibis — Vieill.) R.  Ic. Av. t. 139. ic. 524." (Reichenbach 1853); "Molybdophanes Reichenbach, 1853, Avium Systema Naturale, p. XIV.  Type, by original designation, Ibis caerulescens Vieillot, 1817." (JAJ 2020).