Ballistic food transport in birds: the example of Casuarius casuarius.

The article presents a study which investigates the feeding behaviour in the cassowary or Casuarius casuarius that exploits fallen fruits. The study uses plesiomorphic tetrapod pattern and calculates kinematics of movement of the elements during food transport. Result reveal that transported food follows a ballistic curve with energy passed on by head backward displacement, permitting it to reach pharynx. It adds that the mechanism could be viewed as a specialisation or an ancestral mechanism.