South Island giant moa

The South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus) is a member of the moa family. It was a ratite and a member of the order Dinornithiformes. The Dinornithiformes are flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. The origin of these birds is becoming clearer as it is now believed that early ancestors of these birds were able to fly and flew to the southern areas in which they have been found.[2]

South Island giant moa
Temporal range: Late Holocene
Skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: †Dinornithiformes
Family: †Dinornithidae
Genus: †Dinornis
Species:
†D. robustus
Binomial name
†Dinornis robustus
(Owen, 1846)[1]
Synonyms

The South Island giant moa was the biggest of them all. Adult females stood up to 2 metres (6 ft 6 in) high at the back, and could reach foliage up to 3.6 metres (11 ft 10 in) off the ground, making them the tallest bird species known.[2][3]

Restoration
Track-way

It lived in the South Island of New Zealand, and its habitat was the lowlands (shrubland, duneland, grassland, and forests).[2] Along with other members of the moa family, the South Island giant moa went extinct due to predation from humans in the centuries following human colonization. [4]

Footnotes
  1. Checklist Committee Ornithological Society of New Zealand (2010). "Checklist-of-Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands and the Ross Dependency Antarctica" (PDF). Te Papa Press. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  2. Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003)
  3. Szabo, M.J. 2013. South Island giant moa. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz
  4. Perry, George L.W.; Wheeler, Andrew B.; Wood, Jamie R.; Wilmshurst, Janet M. (2014-12-01). "A high-precision chronology for the rapid extinction of New Zealand moa (Aves, Dinornithiformes)". Quaternary Science Reviews. 105: 126–135. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.09.025 Retrieved 2014-12-22.

References
  • Brands, Sheila (Aug 14, 2008). "Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification, Genus Dinornis". Project: The Taxonomicon. Retrieved Feb 4, 2009.
  • Davies, S.J.J.F. (2003). "Moas". In Hutchins, Michael (ed.). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2 ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 95–98. ISBN 0-7876-5784-0.

Szabo, M.J. 2013. South Island giant moa. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz

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