As a result of numerous fossil and subfossil finds of ostriches, there is great demand for a comprehensive osteometric dataset for the living species and subspecies of the genus Struthio. We meet this demand by providing a set of > 100 measurements for a sample of 18 sexed skeletons, including all living and recently extinct species and subspecies of ostriches. We provide the first mensural data for two extinct subspecies, the hitherto questioned Struthio camelus spatzi from north-western Africa and the Arabian ostrich, Struthio camelus syriacus. The unique skeletal proportions of S. c. spatzi, with a relatively short wing, broad pelvis, short tarsometatarsus and big third toe, confirm the validity of this taxon and suggest an increased stability at the expense of cursoriality, which might have contributed to its extermination by humans. Our biometric analysis of the entire sample suggests a subtle sexual dimorphism in the ostrich skeleton, with females having more robust limb bones (especially wider and/or deeper at the ends) despite being on average smaller than males. If confirmed by further research, this size-independent dimorphism might reflect the independent regulation of the longitudinal and transverse dimensions of bones as revealed by several independent studies of morphological integration (covariance among morphological traits) in the avian skeleton.

中文翻译：

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鸵鸟颅后骨骼的度量变化，Struthio（Aves：Palaeognathae），以及灭绝亚种的新数据

由于大量的鸵鸟化石和亚化石发现，对于 Struthio 属的活物种和亚种的全面骨测量数据集的需求很大。我们通过提供一组 > 来满足这一需求。对 18 个性别骨骼样本进行 100 次测量，包括所有现存的和最近灭绝的鸵鸟物种和亚种。我们提供了两个已灭绝亚种的第一个月经数据，即迄今为止来自非洲西北部的受质疑的 Struthio camelus spatzi 和阿拉伯鸵鸟 Struthio camelus syriacus。S. c. 独特的骨骼比例。spatzi 具有相对较短的翅膀、较宽的骨盆、较短的跗跖骨和大的第三趾，证实了该分类群的有效性，并表明以牺牲粗略性为代价提高了稳定性，这可能有助于其被人类灭绝。我们对整个样本的生物特征分析表明，鸵鸟骨骼中存在一种微妙的性别二态性，雌性具有更强壮的四肢骨骼（尤其是末端更宽和/或更深），尽管它们平均比雄性小。如果通过进一步的研究证实，这种与大小无关的二态性可能反映了骨骼纵向和横向尺寸的独立调节，正如对鸟类骨骼中形态整合（形态特征之间的协方差）的几项独立研究所揭示的那样。