Saturday, December 26, 2009

Over the river and through the woods to Aunt Elaine's house we went. And along the way we passed these sweet emus, who probably aren't all that sweet.



And I learned, from Erin who is sweet, about ostriches and emus. And that led me to learn about the word "Gondwana." I knew about the landmass but not the name. Gondwana. It rolls nicely off the tongue.
From USAToday online:
"... ostriches and emus ... apparently share a common ancestor who lived long ago on the gigantic landmass, Gondwana. When Gondwana broke up about 75 to 85 million years ago, Africa split off, and then Australia/Antarctica sailed slowly away.... With a widening ocean between them, the ostriches and emus were forced to evolve separately thereafter. At least, this is the best current theory."