RATITE

[rat.ite] n [ultim. fr. L ratitus marked with the figure of a raft, fr. ratis raft] (ca. 1890): a bird with a flat breastbone; esp: any of various mostly flightless birds (as an ostrich, rhea, emu, moa, or kiwi) with small or rudimentary wings and no keel on the sternum that are prob. of polyphyletic origin and are assigned to a number of different orders -- ratite adj