King Island emu
![](/Images/godic/202502/02/Dromaius_peroni1956.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202502/02/Dromaius_distribution1956.png")
![Lesueur's 1807 plate of the head, wing and feathers of a specimen possibly belonging to this subspecies](/Images/godic/202502/02/Lesueur_Emu1956.jpg")
![Illustration of the Paris skin, from Vieillot's 1834 La Galerie des Oiseaux](/Images/godic/202502/02/King_Island_Emu1956.jpg")
The King Island emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae minor) is an extinct subspecies of emu that was endemic to King Island, which is situated in the Bass Strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania. Its closest relative may be the extinct Tasmanian emu (D. n. diemenensis), as they belonged to a single population until less than 14,000 years ago, when Tasmania and King Island were still connected. The small size of the King Island emu may be an example of insular dwarfism.