Thread by @WLCrittersClass

1/x And now for our last student #zooarchaeology thread of the night, the Greater Rhea! The following thread is by Anne Charlotte R. #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM
Pretend these are definitely rheas in the gif.

2/x Two species of rhea, Rhea americana (greater rhea) and Rhea pennata (lesser rhea), inhabit
South America. R. Americana ranges from Bolivia to Paraguay & Brazil. (Abbona, et. al.)
#WLCrittersClass #2023MMM

3/x The ranges of these two species of Rhea overlap in Patagonia, & the osteological morphology
of these two birds is very similar. This makes it difficult to identify bone fragments down to the
species level. (Abbona, et. al.) #WLCrittersClass
#2023MMM

4/x As soon as humans entered South America* they began hunting rhea for their meat and eggs. Many rhea carcasses dated to the 19th and 20th centuries have been found in the Pampean and Patagonian regions. (Abbona, et. al.) #WLCrittersClass #2023MM

5/x [Prof's note: the earliest dates for human presence in South America are controversial. I'll just say that, for hunting of rheas, the evidence is at least 10,000 years ago and probably more than 14,000 years ago.] #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM

6/x Once horses were introduced to S America by Spanish colonists, hunters were able to
transport greater rhea carcasses back to their base camp. Carcasses & egg fragments have
been discovered in elevations far out of the rhea’s range. (Abbona, et. al.) #WLCrittersClass
#2023MMM

7/x Evidence of thermal alteration to the R. americana egg shells found in the Pampean and
Patoginian regions suggest that people in both of these areas cooked the eggs on hot coals and
potentially consumed them as food. (Salemme and Fortini) #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM

8/x Works Cited for the Greater Rhea! Thread by Anne Charlotte R. #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM

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