Clare Snow’s Reviews > Why Do Birds Sing? > Status Update

I've known emus are as dumb as chickens, since that time I was walking the dingoes, and the emu ran towards us, not to scare us away but because Mr Emu was scared and meant to run away from us. (Don't worry, dingoes were leashed.)

It's because emus are ratites and split off from the Neoaves clade: all modern birds except Palaeognathae (ratites) and Galloanserae (chickens, turkeys, other brainless birds)