Im no scientist, so it's likely that I'm way off.

But I can't help but see the many similarities between the two species.

Most obvious is the build, both are a bipedal long necked omnivore with a large body, strong legs, comparatively small arms and a crest on their head.

Off course this also describes most Phorusrhacids.

(Which in my opinion is just a fancy way of saying "Forest Rockets")

These are the terror birds, huge flightless murder pigeons.

However, these Phorusrhacids have very large parrot like beaks.

And the Cassowary does not.

Granted, the Oviraptor is depicted with a long tail, as all [dino]raptors do.

And the Cassowary does not have a long tail either.

But it's the head crest that makes me think it could be a Oviraptor.

65 million years is a long time.

And since then, a beak could have grown or a tail could have shrunk.

But why would the cassowary have a crest, if not from a distant ancestor.

And while most [dino]raptors are depicted with a lizard mouth, the Oviraptor specifically has a beak.

So I conclude that the cassowary is basically the last species of.. what we consider to be [dino]Raptors.

But again, perhaps I'm way off.

The Oceania Expansion to Wingspan is coming out soon. Here are some of the cards: https://stonemaiergames.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_7290-rotated.jpg

You may notice the beautiful bird in the top-right hand corner. So I understand the word "cassowary" comes from Malay. But does anybody know what the Malay etymology is?