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South Island giant moa
The South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus) is an extinct species of moa in the genus Dinornis, known in Māori by the name moa nunui. It was one of the tallest-known bird species to walk the Earth, exceeded in weight only by the heavier but shorter extinct elephant bird of Madagascar.
Moa were ratites: large, flightless birds with a sternum, but lacking a keel. They also had a distinctive jaw and palate. The origin of these birds is becoming clearer, and it is now believed that early, volant ancestors of these birds dispersed into the Southern Hemisphere, where most flightless ratites have been found.
Despite being geographically closer to the kiwi, phylogenetic analyses based on recovered DNA show moa to have been closest to the Central and South American tinamous. South island giant moa belong to the genus Dinornis, and are placed within their own family, Dinornithidae, along with their close relative Dinornis novaezealandiae from the North Island. These, along with the extinct upland moa and tinamous, are among the most basal palaeognaths.[citation needed]
The cladogram below follows a 2009 analysis by Bunce et al.:
The South Island giant moa was the largest species of moa. Adult females stood up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall 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. Despite their great height, Dinornis robustus was found to have weighed only 200 kilograms (440 lb) on average, with upper estimates of around ≥250 kilograms (550 lb) for females. Only one specimen of a complete or partially complete moa egg has been assigned to the South Island giant moa, found around Kaikōura. This egg, 240 millimetres (9.4 in) in length and 178 millimetres (7.0 in) in width, was the largest moa egg found in museum collections as of 2006.
Very large-bodied, they had proportionately small heads, a trait found across all ratites. Analysis of their skull shows that they had somewhat poor eyesight due to their small orbits, rounded bills, and a very acute sense of smell thanks to a strongly developed olfactory system. Dinornis had thinner leg bones than other moa, indicating that they were more agile, though they likely moved slowly and cautiously. Unusually, giant moas were the only large ratites that sported a hallux (the first digit of the foot). Uniquely, the moa were essentially wingless; the only remnant of a wing was the scapulocoracoid bone, which, at one point earlier in its evolution, was where the humerus should have attached.
Giant moas were likely fully feathered, except for their heads and a small portion of the neck, as well as the tarsus and feet. Feathers belonging to this species have been found, revealing that its plumage was plain brown or slightly streaked.
D. robustus, along with its relatives, were quite eccentric birds. Although they could reach 11+ feet in height, they mostly held their necks horizontally rather than vertically, like their distant relatives, the kiwi.[citation needed]
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South Island giant moa
The South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus) is an extinct species of moa in the genus Dinornis, known in Māori by the name moa nunui. It was one of the tallest-known bird species to walk the Earth, exceeded in weight only by the heavier but shorter extinct elephant bird of Madagascar.
Moa were ratites: large, flightless birds with a sternum, but lacking a keel. They also had a distinctive jaw and palate. The origin of these birds is becoming clearer, and it is now believed that early, volant ancestors of these birds dispersed into the Southern Hemisphere, where most flightless ratites have been found.
Despite being geographically closer to the kiwi, phylogenetic analyses based on recovered DNA show moa to have been closest to the Central and South American tinamous. South island giant moa belong to the genus Dinornis, and are placed within their own family, Dinornithidae, along with their close relative Dinornis novaezealandiae from the North Island. These, along with the extinct upland moa and tinamous, are among the most basal palaeognaths.[citation needed]
The cladogram below follows a 2009 analysis by Bunce et al.:
The South Island giant moa was the largest species of moa. Adult females stood up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall 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. Despite their great height, Dinornis robustus was found to have weighed only 200 kilograms (440 lb) on average, with upper estimates of around ≥250 kilograms (550 lb) for females. Only one specimen of a complete or partially complete moa egg has been assigned to the South Island giant moa, found around Kaikōura. This egg, 240 millimetres (9.4 in) in length and 178 millimetres (7.0 in) in width, was the largest moa egg found in museum collections as of 2006.
Very large-bodied, they had proportionately small heads, a trait found across all ratites. Analysis of their skull shows that they had somewhat poor eyesight due to their small orbits, rounded bills, and a very acute sense of smell thanks to a strongly developed olfactory system. Dinornis had thinner leg bones than other moa, indicating that they were more agile, though they likely moved slowly and cautiously. Unusually, giant moas were the only large ratites that sported a hallux (the first digit of the foot). Uniquely, the moa were essentially wingless; the only remnant of a wing was the scapulocoracoid bone, which, at one point earlier in its evolution, was where the humerus should have attached.
Giant moas were likely fully feathered, except for their heads and a small portion of the neck, as well as the tarsus and feet. Feathers belonging to this species have been found, revealing that its plumage was plain brown or slightly streaked.
D. robustus, along with its relatives, were quite eccentric birds. Although they could reach 11+ feet in height, they mostly held their necks horizontally rather than vertically, like their distant relatives, the kiwi.[citation needed]