as far as can be told however, ratites did never evolve gripping feet like seen in the fossils, and neither did they fare very successfully in wetland habitat as represented in the jebel qatrani formation. the latter holds true for galliformes, which are ancient neognaths of the fowl clade (galloanserae). anseriformes, the other living member of this group, include the typical waterfowl such as ducks, and many of them independently evolved flexible toes, giving them the ability to perch despite having only a vestigial hallux (see also cairinini). the anseriformes also contain the gigantic flightless mihirungs (dromornithidae) of australia (which were, at first, also believed ratites). it is not inconceivable that "e. eocaenus" was a more aquatic african equivalent of these.