Cassowaries, The World's Deadliest Birds, May Have Been the First Man-Bred Birds

A cassowary, known as the world's most deadly bird because of its long, dagger-like toe, may have been the first bird bred by humans. The bird is an unexpected choice for domestication since it is territorial, aggressive, and resembles a dinosaur in appearance.

A recent analysis of over 1,000 fossilized eggshell pieces unearthed from two hunter-gatherer rock shelters in New Guinea suggests that early humans may have gathered the giant flightless bird's eggs before they hatched and then nurtured the babies to adulthood.

New Guinea is a massive island in the Pacific Ocean north of Australia. Papua New Guinea controls the eastern half of the island, while Indonesia controls the western half.

However, the researchers still don't know a lot.

People would need to know where the nests were when the eggs were deposited and take them from the nest shortly before hatching and successfully nurturing cassowary babies. This is a difficult task since birds do not nest at the exact location every year. In addition, male birds take up nest duties after a female lays the eggs and don't leave for 50 days while incubating the eggs.

"It's possible that the male was hunted, and then the eggs were gathered. Because males don't leave the nest alone, they don't eat much during the incubation period, leaving them susceptible to predators, "she said

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