Scientists have found out which birds people tamed long before chickens (7 photos)

Thousands of years before chickens and ducks, ancient people domesticated another bird. A recent analysis of the remains of eggshells showed that 18 thousand years ago, the inhabitants of New Guinea domesticated what is now one of the most dangerous birds - the cassowary.





Researchers from Pennsylvania State University analyzed remains of eggshells found in parts of New Guinea and came to unexpected conclusions. The eggs belonged to cassowaries - birds that are today considered one of the most dangerous in the world. It turned out that 18 thousand years ago people domesticated cassowaries - and this happened long before chickens.



"The island's 18,000-year-old rainforest provides the earliest known evidence of human bird farming. The domestication of the cassowary occurred thousands of years before the domestication of the chicken. And this is not just any small bird - this is a huge, vicious flightless bird that could easily take a life," said Professor Christina Douglas of Pennsylvania State University.





Cassowaries are flightless birds native to New Guinea and Australia. Externally, cassowaries are similar to emus, and some compare them to dinosaurs. They reach 1.8 meters in height and weigh up to 60 kilograms. According to the San Diego Zoo, this is the most dangerous bird in the world - it has huge claws, powerful paws and a beak. The meat of these birds is still eaten in some places in New Guinea - there it is considered a delicacy.



Different stages of cassowary development