Common ostrich
Common ostriches usually weigh from , or as much as two adult humans. The Masai ostriches of East Africa ("S. c. massaicus") averaged in males and in females, while the nominate subspecies, the North African ostrich ("S. c. camelus"), was found to average in unsexed adults. Exceptional male ostriches (in the nominate subspecies) can weigh up to . At sexual maturity (two to four years), male common ostriches can be from in height, while female common ostriches range from tall. New chicks are fawn in colour, with dark brown spots. During the first year of life, chicks grow at about per month. At one year of age, common ostriches weigh approximately . Their lifespan is up to 40–45 years.
Larch
Larches can reach 50–60 m (Larix occidentalis).
The larch's tree crown is sparse and the branches are brought horizontal to the stem, even if some species have them characteristically pendulous.
Larch shoots are dimorphic, with leaves borne singly on long shoots typically 10–50 centimetres long and bearing several buds, and in dense clusters of 20–50 needles on short shoots only 1–2 mm long with only a single bud. The leaves (light green) are needle-like, 2–5 centimetres long, slender (under 1 cm wide). Larches are among the few deciduous conifers, which are usually evergreen. Other deciduous conifers include the golden larch "Pseudolarix amabilis", the dawn redwood "Metasequoia glyptostroboides", the Chinese swamp cypress "Glyptostrobus pensilis" and the bald cypresses in the genus "Taxodium".
The male flowers (small cones) are orange-yellowish and fall after pollination. The female flowers (or cones) of larches are erect, small, 1–9 cm long, green or purple, brown in ripening and lignify (called now strobilus) 5–8 months after pollination; in about half the species the bract scales are long and visible, and in the others, short and hidden between the seed scales. Those native to northern regions have small cones (1–3 cm) with short bracts, with more southerly species tending to have longer cones (3–9 cm), often with exserted bracts, with the longest cones and bracts produced by the southernmost species, in the Himalayas. The seeds are winged.
The larches are streamlined trees, the root system are broad and deep and the bark is finely cracked and wrinkled in irregular plaques. The wood is bicolor, with salmon pink heartwood and yellowish white sapwood.
The chromosome number is 2n = 24, similar to that of most of the other trees of the Pinaceae family.