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Upland moa

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Upland moa
Temporal range: Pleistocene-Holocene
Mounted skeleton

Extinct (c. 1445[1]) (NZ TCS)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Palaeognathae
Clade: Notopalaeognathae
Order: †Dinornithiformes
Family: †Megalapterygidae
Bunce et al., 2009
Genus: †Megalapteryx
Haast 1886[3]
Species:
†M. didinus
Binomial name
†Megalapteryx didinus
(Owen, 1883)[3][4]
Synonyms
list
  • Palaeocasuarius Forbes 1892 ex Rothschild 1907
  • Dinornis didinus Owen 1882 ex Owen 1883
  • Anomalopteryx didina (Owen 1883) Lydekker 1891
  • Megalapteryx hectori Haast 1884 ex Haast 1886
  • Megalapteryx tenuipes Lydekker, 1891
  • Megalapteryx hamiltoni Rothschild 1907
  • Palaeocasuarius velox Forbes 1892 ex Rothschild 1907
  • Palaeocasuarius elegans Rothschild 1907
  • Palaeocasuarius haasti Forbes 1892 ex Rothschild 1907
  • Megalapteryx benhami Archey 1941

The upland moa (Megalapteryx didinus) is an extinct species of moa that was endemic to New Zealand. It is a ratite, a grouping of flightless birds with no keel on the sternum. It was the last moa species to become extinct, vanishing in 1445 CE, and was predominantly found in alpine and sub-alpine environments.

Taxonomy

In 2005, a genetic study suggested that M. benhami, which had previously been considered a junior synonym of M. didinus, may have been a valid species after all.[5][6]

The cladogram below follows a 2009 analysis by Bunce et al.:[7]

Dinornithiformes

Description

Restoration from 1907

At less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) tall and about 17 to 34 kilograms (37 to 75 lb) in weight, the upland moa was among the smallest of the moa species.[8] Unlike other moas, it had feathers covering all of its body but the beak and the soles of its feet, an adaptation to its cold environment.[9] Scientists believed in the past that the upland moa held its neck and head upright; however, it actually carried itself in a stooped posture with its head level to its back. This would have helped it travel through the abundant vegetation in its habitat, whereas an extended neck would have been more suited to open spaces.[10] It had no wings or tail.[11]

Distribution and habitat

The upland moa lived only on New Zealand's South Island, in mountains and sub-alpine regions. They travelled to elevations as high as 2000 m (7000 ft).[10]

Behavior and ecology

Preserved head

The upland moa was herbivorous, its diet extrapolated from fossilised stomach contents, droppings, and the structure of its beak and crop. It ate leaves and small twigs, using its beak to "shear ... with scissor-like moves".[10] Its food required grinding before it could be digested, as indicated by its large crop.[10] A 2004 study of the upland moa's coprolite provided evidence that branchlets of trees such as Nothofagus, various lake-edge herbs, and tussock made up part of its diet.[12] This moa usually laid only 1 to 2 blue-green coloured eggs at once,[10][13] and was likely the only type of moa to lay eggs that were not white in colour.[14] Like the emu and ostrich, male moa cared for the young.[9] The upland moa's only predator before the arrival of humans in New Zealand was the Haast's eagle.[10]

Extinction

Humans first came in contact with the upland moa around 1250 to 1300 AD, when the Māori people arrived in New Zealand from Polynesia. Moa, a docile animal, were an easy source of food for the Māori (who called them "moa pukepuke")[2] and were eventually hunted to extinction in 1445.[10][15]

Discoveries

Preserved foot

Several specimens with soft tissue and feather remains are known:

References

  1. ^ "The Moa Lived in Aotearoa and Became Extinct in 1445".
  2. ^ a b "Megalapteryx didinus. NZTCS". nztcs.org.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b Brands, Sheila J. (1989). "The Taxonomicon". Zwaag, Netherlands: Universal Taxonomic Services. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Baker, A. J.; Huynen, L. J.; Haddrath, O.; Millar, C. D.; Lambert, D. M. (2005). "Reconstructing the tempo and mode of evolution in an extinct clade of birds with ancient DNA: The giant moas of New Zealand". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (23): 8257–62. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.8257B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0409435102. PMC 1149408. PMID 15928096.
  6. ^ Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003). "Moas". In Hutchins, Michael (ed.). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2 ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 95–98. ISBN 978-0-7876-5784-0.
  7. ^ Bunce, M.; Worthy, T. H.; Phillips, M. J.; Holdaway, R. N.; Willerslev, E.; Haile, J.; Shapiro, B.; Scofield, R. P.; Drummond, A.; Kamp, P. J. J.; Cooper, A. (2009). "The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (49): 20646–20651. Bibcode:2009PNAS..10620646B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0906660106. PMC 2791642. PMID 19923428.
  8. ^ Vickers-Rich, P.; Trusler, P.; Rowley, M. J.; Cooper, A. (1 January 1995). "Morphology, myology, collagen and DNA of a mummified upland moa, Megalapteryx didinus (Aves: dinorthiformes) from New Zealand". Tuhinga: The Records of the Museum of New Zealand te Papa Tongarewa. 4: 1–26.
  9. ^ a b Flannery, Tim, "A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals", October 2001, "[1]"
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Museum of New Zealand, "Upland Moa", 1998, http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/theme.aspx?irn=1348
  11. ^ TerraNature, "Flightless Birds: Moa", http://terranature.org/moa.htm
  12. ^ Mark Horrocks, et al., "Plant remains in coprolites: diet of a subalpine moa (Dinornithiformes) from southern New Zealand", Emu Austral Ornithology, 2004 http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MU03019.htm
  13. ^ Igic, Branislav; et al. (2010). "Detecting pigments from colorful eggshells of extinct birds". Chemoecology. 20 (1): 43–48. doi:10.1007/s00049-009-0038-2. S2CID 10956718.
  14. ^ Gill, B. J. (2006). "A Catalogue of Moa Eggs (Aves: Dinornithiformes)". Records of the Auckland Museum. 43: 55–80. ISSN 1174-9202.
  15. ^ Worthy, Trevor H.'Moa – Moa and people', Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 13-Jul-12 URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/moa/page-4
  16. ^ Museum of New Zealand(a). "Megalapteryx didinus". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  17. ^ Worthy, Trevor H. (1989). "Mummified moa remains from Mt Owen, northwest Nelson" (PDF). Notornis. 36 (1): 36–38. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2006.
  18. ^ Museum of New Zealand(b). "Megalapteryx didinus". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  19. ^ McCulloch, Beverley (1992). "Unique, dark olive-green moa eggshell from Redcliffe Hill, Rakaia Gorge, Canterbury" (PDF). Notornis. 39 (1): 63–65. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2006.
  20. ^ Museum of New Zealand(c). "Megalapteryx didinus". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  21. ^ "THE HUNT IS ON: Upland Moa Recovery Project".
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