Dinornis struthoides (Giant Moa Bird)
Class Aves, Superorder, Paleognathae, Order Struthioniformes, Family Dinornithidae
Geological Time: Pleistocene
Size (25.4 mm = 1 inch): Phalanx: 55 mm long by 32 mm wide Ungual 37 mm long by 21 mm wide
Fossil Site: Sinkhole deposits, Blenheim, South Island, New Zealand
Fossil Code: AAF592
Price: $175.00 - sold
 Description:
The specimen seen here is the distal phalanx and ungual of an extinct
bird known as the Moa. These were flightless birds found in New Zealand.
Unlike  other
flightless birds, both extinct and extant, Moa had virtually no vestiges
of wings. They varied in size from some 250 kg and 3.6 m in height
to about 20 kg and less than a meter tall. The species depicted here
reached about 95 kg in weight. They arose during the Late Pliocene/Early
Pleistocene, and some were still present up to about 1500. Like many
other flightless birds, they have Man to  blame
for their extinction, with hunting and forest clearance by the indigenous
Maori being the ultimate cause. They were described by Sir Richard
Owen based upon a fragmentary femur sent to him in 1839. Our extensive
knowledge of the Moa comes from that fact that numerous individuals
were preserved mired in the swamps of both North and South Island.
Some mummified remains and feathers have also been found, adding to
our base of knowledge about these large herbivorous birds eclipsed
in size only by the Elephant Bird of Madagascar. These came attached
as you see them, probably to make for a better display while keeping
them together as they had been found. |
