Moa 62366 226002165 2008-07-16T11:49:43Z Snori 545864 /* Claims of moa survival */ not all Moa were large {{This|the extinct New Zealand birds known as moa}} {{Taxobox | name = Moa | status = Extinct | image = Giant Haasts eagle attacking New Zealand moa.jpg | image_caption = Moa attacked by a [[Haast's Eagle]] | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[bird|Aves]] | superordo = [[Paleognathae]] | ordo = [[Struthioniformes]] | familia = †'''Dinornithidae''' | familia_authority = [[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], [[1853]] | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = †''[[Anomalopteryx]]'' (bush moa)<br /> †''[[Turkey moa|Euryapteryx]]''<br /> †''[[Megalapteryx]]'' (upland moa)<br /> †''[[Giant moa|Dinornis]]'' (giant moa)<br /> †''[[Emeus]]''<br /> †''[[Pachyornis]]''<br /> }} The '''Moa'''<ref>In [[Māori language|Māori]] words do not use ''s'' to indicate plural, and thus "moa" is both plural and singular. Some English speakers apply this rule to their use of the word within English, though others use the regularly formed English plural "moas".</ref> were several genera of flightless [[bird]]s native to [[New Zealand]]. The largest genus, the [[giant moa]] (''Dinornis robustus'' and ''Dinornis novaezelandiae''), reached about {{convert|3.6|m|ft|abbr=on|lk=on}} in height and weighed about {{convert|250|kg|lb|abbr=on|lk=on}}. Members of the [[Order (biology)|order]] [[Struthioniformes]] (or [[ratite]]s), the fifteen species are unique in lacking even the vestigial wings which all other [[ratite]]s have. They were the dominant [[herbivore]]s in the New Zealand forest [[ecosystem]] for thousands of years; and until the arrival of the [[Māori]], were hunted only by the [[Haast's Eagle]]. All species are generally believed to have become extinct by 1500 AD, mainly due to hunting by [[Māori]]. ==Taxonomy== [[Image:OtagoMuseumMoa.jpg|thumb|left|Reconstruction of two moa species, [[Otago Museum]], [[Dunedin]]. Otago Museum holds the world's largest collection of moa remains.]] The [[kiwi]] were once regarded as the closest relatives of the moa, but comparisons of their DNA suggest they are more closely related to the Australian [[emu]] and [[cassowary]].<ref>Turvey ''et al'' 2005</ref> Although dozens of species were described in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many were based on partial skeletons and turned out to be [[Synonym (zoology)|synonyms]]. More recent research, based on [[DNA]] recovered from museum collections, suggest that there were only 11&ndash;15 species, including 2&ndash;4 giant moa. The [[giant moa]] seem to have had pronounced [[sexual dimorphism]], with females being much larger than males&mdash;so much bigger that they were formerly classified as separate species (see also below). The giant moa grew up to {{convert|4|m|ft|abbr=on|lk=on}} in height and became extinct earliest. Although they are traditionally reconstructed in an upright position giving impressive height, it is thought more likely that moa carried their heads forward, in the manner of a kiwi, in order to graze on low-level vegetation. [[Ancient DNA]] analyses have determined that there were a number of cryptic evolutionary lineages in several moa genera. These may eventually be classified as species or subspecies; ''Megalapteryx benhami'' (Archey) which is synonymized with ''M. didinus'' (Owen) because the bones of both share all essential characters. Size differences can be explained by a north-south [[cline]] combined with temporal variation such that specimens were larger in the north during the Otiran. Similar temporal variation is known for the North Island ''Pachyornis mappini''.<ref> Worthy 1987</ref> Some of the other 'Large' ranges in variation for moa species can probably be explained by similar geographic and temporal analysis.<ref>Worthy ''et al'' 1988</ref> Sometimes, the Dinornithidae are considered to be a full [[order (biology)|order]] (Dinornithiformes), in which case the [[subfamily|subfamilies]] listed below would be advanced to full [[family (biology)|family]] status (replacing "-inae" with "-idae"). [[Image:Dinornithidae (Moa) 01 L.D..jpg|thumb|Life restoration]] Thus, the currently recognized genera and species are: *Family †'''Dinornithidae''' - Moa **Subfamily '''Megalapteryginae''' - Megalapteryx Moa *** Genus '''''Megalapteryx''''' ****[[Lesser Megalapteryx|Upland Moa]], ''Megalapteryx didinus'' ''(South Island, New Zealand)'' **Subfamily '''Anomalopteryginae''' - Lesser Moa ***Genus '''''[[Anomalopteryx]]''''' ****[[Anomalopteryx|Bush Moa]], ''Anomalopteryx didiformis'' (South Island, New Zealand) ***Genus '''''[[Euryapteryx]]''''' ****[[North Island Broad-billed Moa]], ''Euryapteryx curtus'' (North Island, New Zealand) ****[[South Island Broad-billed Moa]], ''Euryapteryx geranoides'' (South Island, New Zealand) ***Genus '''''[[Eastern Moa|Emeus]]''''' ****[[Eastern Moa]], ''Emeus crassus'' (South Island, New Zealand) ***Genus '''''[[Pachyornis]]''''' ****[[Crested Moa]], ''Pachyornis australis'' (South Island, New Zealand) ****[[Heavy-footed Moa]], ''Pachyornis elephantopus'' (South Island, New Zealand) ****[[Mappin's Moa]], ''Pachyornis mappini'' (North Island, New Zealand) ****''Pachyornis'' new lineage A (North Island, New Zealand) ****''Pachyornis'' new lineage B (South Island, New Zealand) **Subfamily '''Dinornithinae''' - Giant Moa ***Genus '''''[[Giant Moa|Dinornis]]''''' ****[[North Island Giant Moa]], ''Dinornis novaezealandiae'' (North Island, New Zealand) ****[[South Island Giant Moa]], ''Dinornis robustus'' (South Island, New Zealand) ****''Dinornis'' new lineage A (South Island, New Zealand) ****''Dinornis'' new lineage B (South Island, New Zealand) ==Biology== [[Image:Moa foot.jpg|thumb|Preserved ''[[Megalapteryx]]'' foot, Natural History Museum<ref>http://www.dkimages.com/discover/Home/Animals/Birds/Extinct-Birds/Moa/Moa-1.html</ref>]] It has been long suspected that the pairs of species of moa described as ''Euryapteryx curtus''/''E. exilis'', ''Emeus huttonii''/''E. crassus'', and ''Pachyornis septentrionalis''/''P. mappini'' constituted males and females, respectively. This has been confirmed by analysis for sex-specific genetic markers of DNA extracted from bone material (Huynen ''et al''., 2003). The former three species of ''Dinornis'': ''D. giganteus'' = ''robustus'', ''D. novaezealandiae'' and ''D. struthioides'' have turned out to be males (''struthioides'') and females of only two species, one each formerly occurring on [[New Zealand]]'s North Island (''D. novaezealandiae'') and South Island (''D. robustus'') (Huynen ''et al''., 2003; Bunce ''et al''., 2003); ''robustus'' however, comprises three distinct genetic lineages and may eventually be classified as many species as discussed above. Moa females were larger than males, being up to 150% of the males' size and 280% of their weight. This phenomenon &ndash; [[sexual dimorphism|size dimorphism]] &ndash; is common amongst [[ratite]]s, being most pronounced in moa and [[kiwi]]. ===Diet=== [[Image:Dinornis.jpg|thumb|left|''Dinornis'' skeleton]] Although feeding moa were never observed by scientists their diet has been deduced from [[fossil]]ised contents of their [[gizzard]]s<ref>Burrows et al. 1981</ref><ref>Wood 2007</ref>, [[coprolite]]s<ref>Horrocks et al. 2004</ref>, as well as indirectly through morphological analysis of skull and beak, and [[Isotope analysis|stable isotope analysis]] of their bones<ref>Worthy & Holdaway 2002</ref>. Moa fed on a range of plant species and plant parts, including fibrous twigs and leaves taken from low trees and shrubs. The beak of ''[[Pachyornis]]'' ''elephantopus'' was analagous to a pair of secateurs, and was able to clip the fibrous leaves of New Zealand flax (''[[Phormium]]'' ''tenax'') and twigs up to at least 8mm in diameter<ref>Wood 2007</ref>. Moa swallowed stones, which were retained in their gizzards, and provided a grinding action that allowed them to eat such coarse plant material. These stones are commonly smooth, rounded quartz pebbles, but stones over 110mm in length have been found in amongst preserved moa gizzard contents<ref>Wood 2007</ref>. ''Dinornis'' gizzards could often contain several kilograms of stone<ref>Worthy & Holdaway 2002</ref>. ===Breeding=== ====Eggs==== Fragments of moa eggshell are often encountered in archaeological sites and sands dunes around the New Zealand coast. A total of 36 whole moa eggs exist in museum collections and vary greatly in size (from 120-240mm in length and 91-178mm wide)<ref>Gill 2007</ref>. The outer surface of moa eggshell is characterised by small slit-shaped pores. The eggs of most moa species were white, although the upland moa (''Megalapteryx didinus'') is known to have had blue-green coloured eggs. ==Extinction == [[Image:Moa Cave.JPG|thumb|Moa bones scattered across the floor of 'Moa Cave', Honeycomb Hill Cave System. This cave is a closed scientific reserve.]] The moa's only predator was the massive [[Haast's Eagle]]&mdash;until the arrival of human settlers. The [[Māori]] arrived sometime before 1300 AD, and all moa genera were soon driven to extinction by hunting and, to a lesser extent, forest clearance. By about 1400 AD all moa are generally thought to have become extinct, along with the [[Haast's Eagle]] which had relied on them for food. Recent research using [[carbon-14 dating]] of middens strongly suggests that this took less than a hundred years<ref> Holdaway & Jacomb 2000</ref>; rather than the period of exploitation lasting several hundred years which had been earlier believed. Some authors have speculated that a few ''Megalapteryx didinus'' may have persisted in remote corners of New Zealand until the 18th and even 19th centuries, but the view is not widely accepted.<ref name = "Anderson">Anderson 1989</ref> == Discovery by science== [[Image:Dinornis1387.jpg|thumb|left|Sir [[Richard Owen]] with moa skeleton]] [[Joel Samuel Polack|Joel Polack]], a trader who lived on the East Coast of the North Island from 1834 to 1837, records in 1838 that he had been shown 'several large fossil ossifications' found near Mt Hikurangi. He was certain that these were the bones of a species of emu or ostrich, noting that 'the Natives add that in times long past they received the traditions that very large birds had existed, but the scarcity of animal food, as well as the easy method of entrapping them, has caused their extermination'. Polack further noted that he had received reports from Māori that a 'species of Struthio' still existed in remote parts of the South Island (Polack 1838, cited in Hill 1913:330). Dieffenbach (1843 (II):195) also refers to a fossil from the area near Mt Hikurangi, and surmises that it belongs to 'a bird, now extinct, called Moa (or Movie) by the natives'. In 1839, [[John W. Harris]], a [[Poverty Bay]] flax trader who was a natural history enthusiast, was given a piece of unusual bone by a Māori who had found it in a river bank. He showed the 15&nbsp;cm fragment of bone to his uncle, John Rule, a Sydney surgeon, who sent it to [[Richard Owen]] who at that time was working at the Hunterian Museum at the [[Royal College of Surgeons of England|Royal College of Surgeons]] in [[London]]. Owen became a noted [[biologist]], [[anatomist]] and [[paleontologist]] at the [[British Museum]]. Owen puzzled over the fragment for almost four years. He established it was part of the [[femur]] of a big animal, but it was uncharacteristically light and honeycombed. Owen announced to a skeptical scientific community and the world that it was from a giant extinct bird like an [[ostrich]], and named it ''Dinornis''. His deduction was ridiculed in some quarters but was proved correct with the subsequent discoveries of considerable quantities of moa bones throughout the country, sufficient to reconstruct skeletons of the birds. In July 2004, the [[Natural History Museum]] in London placed on display the moa bone fragment Owen had first examined, to celebrate 200 years since his birth, and in memory of Owen as founder of the museum. ==Claims of moa survival== [[Image:Moa-Wellington-Museum-NZ.jpg|thumb|Moa model, [[Wellington Museum]]]] Though most scientists contend there is no reasonable doubt that moa are [[extinct]], there has been occasional speculation—since at least the late 1800s,<ref>Gould, Charles. 1886 ''Mythical Monsters''. W.H. Allen & Co</ref><ref>[[Bernard Heuvelmans|Heuvelmans, Bernard]]. 1959. ''On the Track of Unknown Animals''. New York, Hill and Wang</ref> and recently as 2008<ref>[http://www.hbtoday.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3760032 Laing, Doug. "Birdman says moa surviving in the Bay" 2008]. from ''Hawks Bay Today''.</ref>—that some moa may still exist, particularly in deepest south [[Westland, New Zealand|Westland]], a rugged wilderness in the South Island. [[Cryptozoology|Cryptozoologists]] and others reputedly continue to search for them,<ref>[http://www.newanimal.org/moas.htm Hall, Jamie. 2006. "The Cryptid Zoo: Moas and Other Giant Flightless Birds"].</ref> but their claims and supporting evidence (such as of purported Moa footprints<ref>Laing, 2008</ref> or blurry photos<ref name = "Coleman">[http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/moa-paddy/ Coleman, Loren. 2007. "Mystery Moa Photo".]</ref>) have earned little attention from mainstream experts, and are widely considered [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]].<ref name = "Anderson"/> Experts contend that moa survival is extremely unlikely, since this would involve the ground-dwelling birds living unnoticed in a region often visited by [[hunter]]s and [[hiker]]s.<ref>Laing, 2008</ref> While the rediscovery of the [[Takahē]] in 1948 (after none had been seen since 1898), showed that rare birds may exist undiscovered for a long time, the Takahē was rediscovered after its tracks were identified&mdash;yet no reliable evidence of moa tracks has ever been found. ==Footnotes== {{Reflist}} ==References== *{{cite journal |last=Anderson |first=A. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1989 |month= |title=On evidence for the survival of moa in European Fiordland |journal=New Zealand Journal of Ecology |volume=12 |issue=Supplement |pages=39–44 |id= |url=http://www.newzealandecology.org/nzje/free_issues/NZJEcol12_s_39.pdf |accessdate= |quote= }} *{{cite journal |last=Baker |first=Allan J. |authorlink= |coauthors=Huynen, Leon J.; Haddrath, Oliver; Millar, Craig D. and Lambert, David M. |year=2005 |month= |title=Reconstructing the tempo and mode of evolution in an extinct clade of birds with ancient DNA: The giant moas of New Zealand |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Science|PNAS]] |volume=102 |issue=23 |pages=8257–8262 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0409435102 |url= |accessdate= |quote=|pmid=15928096 }} *{{cite journal |last=Bunce |first=Michael |authorlink= |coauthors=Worthy, Trevor H.; Ford, Tom; Hoppitt, Will; Willerslev, Eske; Drummond, Alexei and Cooper, Alan |year=2003 |month= |title=Extreme reversed sexual size dimorphism in the extinct New Zealand moa ''Dinornis'' |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=425 |issue=6954 |pages=172–174 |doi=10.1038/nature01871 |url= |accessdate= |quote= }} *{{cite journal |last=Burrows |first=C. |authorlink= |coauthors=''et al.'' |year=1981 |month= |title=The diet of moas based on gizzard contents samples from Pyramid Valley, North Canterbury, and Scaifes Lagoon, Lake Wanaka, Otago |journal=Records of the Canterbury Museum |volume=9 |issue= |pages=309-336 }} *{{cite book |title=Travels in New Zealand |last=Dieffenbach |first=E. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1843 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |volume=II |pages=195 }} *{{cite journal |last=Gill |first=BJ. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2007 |month= |title=Eggshell characteristics of moa eggs (Aves: Dinornithiformes) |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand|volume=37 |issue= |pages=139-150 }} *{{cite journal |last=Hill |first=H. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1913 |month= |title=The Moa—Legendary, Historical and Geographical: Why and When the Moa disappeared |journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand |volume=46 |issue= |pages=330 |id= |url=http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/image/rsnz_46/rsnz_46_00_0368_0330_ac_01.html |accessdate= |quote= }} *{{cite journal |last=Holdaway |first=R. N. |authorlink= |coauthors=Jacomb, C. |year=2000 |month= |title=Rapid Extinction of the Moas (Aves: Dinornithiformes): Model, Test, and Implications |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=287 |issue=5461 |pages=2250–2254 |doi=10.1126/science.287.5461.2250 |url= |accessdate= |quote=|pmid=10731144 }} *{{cite journal |last=Horrocks |first=M. |authorlink= |coauthors=''et al.'' |year=2004 |month= |title=Plant remains in coprolites: diet of a subalpine moa (Dinornithiformes) from southern New Zealand|journal=Emu |volume=104 |issue= |pages=149–156 }} *{{cite journal |last=Huynen |first=Leon J. |authorlink= |coauthors=Millar, Craig D.; Scofield, R. P. and Lambert, David M. |year=2003 |month= |title=Nuclear DNA sequences detect species limits in ancient moa |journal=Nature |volume=425 |issue=6954 |pages=175–178 |doi=10.1038/nature01838 |url= |accessdate= |quote= }} *{{cite journal |last=Millener |first=P. R. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1982 |month= |title=And then there were twelve: the taxonomic status of ''Anomalopteryx oweni'' (Aves: Dinornithidae) |journal=[[Notornis (journal)|Notornis]] |volume=29 |issue= |pages=165–170 |id= |url= |accessdate= |quote=|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0030009 }} *{{cite book |title=New Zealand: Being a Narrative of Travels and Adventures During a Residence in that Country Between the Years 1831 and 1837 |last=Polack |first=J. S. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1838 |publisher=Richard Bentley |location=London |volume=I |pages=303, 307 }} *{{cite journal |last=Turvey |first=Samuel T. |authorlink= |coauthors=Green, Owen R. and Holdaway, Richard N. |year=2005 |month= |title=Cortical growth marks reveal extended juvenile development in New Zealand moa |journal=Nature |volume=435 |issue=7044 |pages=940–943 |doi=10.1038/nature03635 |url= |accessdate= |quote= }} *{{cite journal |last=Wood |first=JR. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2007 |month= |title=Moa gizzard content analyses: further information on the diet of ''Dinornis robustus'' and ''Emeus crassus'', and the first evidence for the diet of ''Pachyornis elephantopus'' (Aves: Dinornithiformes). |journal=Records of the Canterbury Museum |volume=21 |issue= |pages=27-39 }} *{{cite book |title=The Lost World of the Moa |last=Worthy |first=Trevor H. |authorlink= |coauthors=Holdaway, Richard N. |year=2002 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=0253340349 |pages= }} ==See also== * [[List of extinct New Zealand animals#Birds|List of extinct New Zealand animals]] (birds) * [[Late Quaternary prehistoric birds]] * [[Island gigantism]] * [[Moa-nalo]], an extinct gigantic goose-like duck from the Hawaiian Islands. ==External links== {{commons|Moa}} {{Wikispecies|Dinornithiformes|Moa}} * [http://www.terranature.org/extinctBirds.htm TerraNature list of New Zealand's extinct birds] * [http://www.moapages.info Moa Pages] * [http://www.terranature.org/moa.htm TerraNature page on Moa] * [http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Dinornithidae Tree of Life classification and references] * [http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=62976 Big Bird´s Last Stand] <!-- interwiki links must be checked as to whether they link to family, genus, species. please family links here only. --> <!-- This article is about Dinornis maximus --> <!-- this article is about Dinornithidae and Dinornis --> [[Category:Dinornithidae|*]] [[Category:Extinct flightless birds]] [[Category:Extinct animals of New Zealand]] [[Category:Higher-level bird taxa restricted to New Zealand]] [[Category:Late Quaternary prehistoric birds]] [[Category:Birds of New Zealand]] [[Category:Ratites]] [[Category:Recent extinctions]] [[Category:Cryptids]] {{Link FA|de}} [[bg:Моа]] [[cs:Moa]] [[da:Moa]] [[de:Moa]] [[es:Dinornithidae]] [[fr:Dinornithidae]] [[gl:Moa (ave)]] [[ko:모아]] [[id:Moa]] [[it:Dinornithidae]] [[he:מואה]] [[ka:მოასნაირნი]] [[lt:Moa]] [[mi:Moa]] [[nl:Moa]] [[ja:モア]] [[no:Moafugler]] [[pl:Moa]] [[pt:Moa]] [[ru:Моа]] [[simple:Moa]] [[fi:Moat]] [[sv:Moafåglar]] [[wa:Mowa]] [[zh:恐鳥]]