Heavy-footed moa

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Heavy-footed moa
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Holocene
Pachyornis Fenton.jpg
P. elephantopus skeleton photographed by Roger Fenton
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Palaeognathae
Order:† Dinornithiformes
Family:† Emeidae
Genus:† Pachyornis
Species:
†P. elephantopus
Binomial name
†Pachyornis elephantopus
(Owen, 1856) Lydekker 1891 non Cracraft 1976 [1] [2]
Synonyms
List
  • Dinornis elephantopusOwen, 1856
  • Euryapteryx elephantopus(Owen 1856) Hutton 1892
  • Dinornis queenslandiaeDe Vis, 1884
  • Pachyornis queenslandiae(De Vis 1884) Oliver 1949
  • Dromiceius queenslandiae(De Vis 1884) Miller 1963
  • Euryapteryx ponderosusHutton, 1891 non Hamilton 1898
  • Pachyornis immanusLydekker, 1891
  • Euryapteryx immanis(Lydekker 1891) Lambrecht 1933
  • Pachyornis inhabilisHutton, 1893
  • Pachyornis majorHutton, 1875
  • Pachyornis rothschildiLydekker, 1892
  • Pachyornis valgusHutton, 1893
  • Euryapteryx crassaBenham 1910 non (Owen 1846) Hutton 1896
  • Pachyornis murihikuOliver 1949

The heavy-footed moa (Pachyornis elephantopus) is a species of moa from the lesser moa family. The heavy-footed moa was widespread only in the South Island of New Zealand, and its habitat was the lowlands (shrublands, dunelands, grasslands, and forests). [3] The moa were ratites, 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. [3]

Contents

The heavy-footed moa was about 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall, and weighed as much as 145 kg (320 lb). [4] Three complete or partially complete moa eggs in museum collections are considered eggs of the heavy-footed moa, all sourced from Otago. These have an average length of 226mm and a width of 158mm, making these the largest moa eggs [5] behind the single South Island giant moa egg specimen. [6]

Taxonomy

Pachyornis elephantopus skeleton, Naturhistorisches Museum Basel Pachyornis elephantopus Naturhistorisches Museum Basel 27102013 1.jpg
Pachyornis elephantopus skeleton, Naturhistorisches Museum Basel

The heavy-footed moa was named as Dinornis elephantopus by Richard Owen in 1856 from leg bones found by Walter Mantell at Awamoa, near Oamaru, and given by him to the Natural History Museum, London. Bones from multiple birds were used to make a full articulated skeleton. [7] [4]

Distribution and habitat

The heavy-footed moa was found only in the South Island of New Zealand. [8] [9] Their range covered much of the eastern side of the island, with a northern and southern variant of the species. [8] [10]

They were a primarily lowland species, preferring dry and open habitats such as grasslands, shrublands and dry forests. [8] They were absent from sub-alpine and mountain habitats, where they were replaced by the crested moa ( Pachyornis australis ). [8]

During the Pleistocene-Holocene warming event, the retreat of glacial ice meant that the heavy-footed moa's preferred habitat area increased, allowing their distribution across the island to increase as well. [10]

Ecology and diet

Due to its relative isolation before the Polynesian settlers arrived, New Zealand has a unique plant and animal community and had no native terrestrial mammals. [9] [10] Moa filled the ecological niche of large herbivores, filled by mammals elsewhere, until the arrival of the Polynesian settlers and the associated mammalian invasion in the 13th Century. [10] The heavy-footed Moa is thought to have been less abundant than other moa species due to its less frequent representation in the fossil record. [8]

Restoration of Dinornis robustus and P. elephantopus Giant moa.jpg
Restoration of Dinornis robustus and P. elephantopus

Until recently it was unknown exactly what the diet of the heavy-footed moa consisted of. [8] The fact that it had different head and beak shapes to its contemporaries suggested that it had a different diet, possibly of tougher vegetation as suggested by its preferred dry and shrubby habitat. [8] Specialising in different foods would have also allowed it to avoid competition with other moa species which may have shared part of its range (niche separation). [8] [9] In 2007 Jamie Wood [11] described the gizzard contents of a heavy-footed moa for the first time. They found 21 plant taxa which included Hebe leaves, various seeds and mosses as well as a large amount of twigs and wood, some of which were of a considerable size. This supports the earlier idea that the heavy-footed moa was adapted to consume tough vegetation, but it also shows that it had a varied diet and could eat most plant products, including wood. [11] [12]

The heavy-footed moa's only real predator (before the arrival of humans and non-native placental mammals) was the Haast's eagle; however, recent evidence from coprolites has shown that they also hosted several groups of host-specific parasites, including nematode worms. [13]

Museum specimens

The articulated skeleton of a heavy-footed moa from Otago, New Zealand, is on display in the Collectors' Cabinet gallery at Leeds City Museum, UK. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moa</span> Extinct order of birds

Moa are an extinct group of flightless birds formerly endemic to New Zealand. During the Late Pleistocene-Holocene, there were nine species. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about 3.6 metres (12 ft) in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about 230 kilograms (510 lb) while the smallest, the bush moa, was around the size of a turkey. Estimates of the moa population when Polynesians settled New Zealand circa 1300 vary between 58,000 and approximately 2.5 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bush moa</span> Extinct genus of flightless birds

The bush moa, little bush moa, or lesser moa is an extinct species of moa from the family Emeidae endemic to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upland moa</span> Extinct species of bird

The upland moa 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 around 1500 CE, and was predominantly found in alpine and sub-alpine environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand raven</span> Extinct species of bird

The New Zealand raven was native to New Zealand, but has been extinct since the 16th century. There were three subspecies: the North Island raven, South Island raven, and Chatham raven from the Chatham Islands.

<i>Dinornis</i> Extinct genus of birds

The giant moa (Dinornis) is an extinct genus of birds belonging to the moa family. As with other moa, it was a member of the order Dinornithiformes. It was endemic to New Zealand. Two species of Dinornis are considered valid, the North Island giant moa and the South Island giant moa. In addition, two further species have been suggested based on distinct DNA lineages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern moa</span> Extinct species of bird

The eastern moa is an extinct species of moa that was endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Pachyornis</i> Extinct genus of birds

Pachyornis is an extinct genus of ratites from New Zealand which belonged to the moa family. Like all ratites it was a member of the order Struthioniformes. The Struthioniformes are flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. This genus contains three species, and are part of the Anomalopteryginae or lesser moa subfamily. Pachyornis moa were the stoutest and most heavy-legged genus of the family, the most notable species being Pachyornis elephantopus - the heavy-footed moa. They were generally similar to the eastern moa or the broad-billed moa of the genus Euryapteryx, but differed in having a pointed bill and being more heavyset in general. At least one species is assumed to have had a crest of long feathers on its head. The species became rapidly extinct following human colonization of New Zealand, with the possible exception of P. australis, which may have already been extinct by then - although the most recent moa skeleton ever described is a partial skeleton of this species, radiocarbon dated to between 1396 and 1442.

The long-billed wren is an extinct species of New Zealand wren formerly endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. It was the only species in the genus Dendroscansor. It shares the name "long-billed wren" with the Brazilian bird Cantorchilus longirostris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finsch's duck</span> Extinct species of bird

Finsch's duck was a large terrestrial species of duck formerly endemic to New Zealand. The species was possibly once the most common duck in New Zealand, a supposition based on the frequency of its fossils in bone deposits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand bittern</span> Extinct species of heron

The New Zealand bittern is an extinct and enigmatic species of heron in the family Ardeidae. It was endemic to New Zealand and was last recorded alive in the 1890s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand stiff-tailed duck</span> Extinct species of bird

The New Zealand stiff-tailed duck is an extinct duck species from New Zealand which is known only from subfossil remains. It was first described as a distinct species by Trevor H. Worthy in 2005.

Scarlett's duck is an extinct duck species from New Zealand which was closely related to the Australian pink-eared duck. The scientific name commemorates the late New Zealand ornithologist and palaeontologist Ron Scarlett who discovered the holotype in 1941. However, previously undescribed bones of the species found in 1903 were rediscovered in the Otago Museum in 1998. At least 32 fossil remains from deposits in Pyramid Valley, at Ngāpara in the South Island, and at Lake Poukawa in the North Island are in museum collections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crested moa</span> Extinct species of bird

The crested moa is an extinct species of moa. It is one of the 9 known species of moa to have existed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Island giant moa</span> Extinct species of bird

The North Island giant moa is an extinct moa in the genus Dinornis, known in Māori as kuranui. Even though it might have walked with a lowered posture, standing upright, it would have been the tallest bird ever to exist, with a height estimated up to 3.6 metres (12 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Island giant moa</span> Extinct species of bird

The South Island giant moa 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 elephant bird of Madagascar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad-billed moa</span> Extinct bird species

The broad-billed moa, stout-legged moa or coastal moa is an extinct species of moa that was endemic to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mantell's moa</span> Extinct species of bird

Mantell's moa also known as Mappin's moa or moa ruarangi is an extinct species of moa from the North Island of New Zealand. Its habitat was the lowlands. The moa were ratites, flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. The origin of the ratites is becoming clearer as it is now believed that early ancestors of these birds were able to fly and flew to the southern areas that they have been found in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand goose</span> Extinct genus of birds

The New Zealand goose is a bird of the extinct genus Cnemiornis of the family Anatidae, subfamily Anserinae. The genus, endemic to New Zealand, consisted of two species: the North Island goose, C. gracilis and the South Island goose C. calcitrans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser moa</span> Family of extinct birds

The lesser moa were a family in the moa order Dinornithiformes. About two-thirds of all moa species are in the lesser moa family. The moa were ratites from New Zealand. Ratites are flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. The origin of the ratites is becoming clearer as it is now believed that early ancestors of these birds were able to fly and flew to the southern areas that they have been found in.

References

  1. ↑ Brands, S. (2008)
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. 1 2 Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003)
  4. 1 2 Olliver, Narena (2005)
  5. ↑ Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2006). Extinct birds of New Zealand. Paul Martinson. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Press. p. 28. ISBN   978-0-909010-21-8. OCLC   80016906.
  6. ↑ Gill, B. J. (2006). "A Catalogue of Moa Eggs (Aves: Dinornithiformes)". Records of the Auckland Museum . 43: 55–80. ISSN   1174-9202. JSTOR   42905885. Wikidata   Q58623352.
  7. ↑ Owen, Richard (1879). Memoirs on the Extinct Wingless Birds of New Zealand : with an appendix on those of England, Australia, Newfoundland, Mauritius, and Rodriguez. London: J. Van Voorst. pp. 223–235. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Worthy, T.H. (1990). "An analysis of the distribution and relative abundance of moa species (Aves: Dinornithiformes)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 17 (2): 213–241. doi:10.1080/03014223.1990.10422598.
  9. 1 2 3 Cooper, A., Atkinson, I. A. E., Lee, W. G. & Worthy, T. H. (1993). "Evolution of the moa and their effect on the New Zealand flora". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 8 (12): 433–437. Bibcode:1993TEcoE...8..433C. doi:10.1016/0169-5347(93)90005-a. PMID   21236223.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. 1 2 3 4 Rawlence, N. J., Metcalf, J. L., Wood, J. R. Worthy, T. H., Austin, J. J., & Cooper, A. (2012). "The effect of climate and environmental change on the megafaunal moa of New Zealand in the absence of humans". Quaternary Science Reviews. 50: 141–153. Bibcode:2012QSRv...50..141R. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.07.004.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. 1 2 Wood, J. R. (2007). "Moa gizzard content analyses: Further information on the diets of Dinornis robustus and Emeus crassus, and the first evidence for the diet of Pachyornis elephantopus (Aves : Dinornithiformes)". Records of the Canterbury Museum. 21: 27–39.
  12. ↑ Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2006). Extinct birds of New Zealand. Paul Martinson. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Press. p. 28. ISBN   978-0-909010-21-8. OCLC   80016906.
  13. ↑ Wood, J. R., Wilmshurst, J. M., Rawlence, N. J., Bonner, K. I., Worthy, T. H., Kinsella, J. M. & Cooper, A. (2013). "A Megafauna's Microfauna: Gastrointestinal Parasites of New Zealand's Extinct Moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes)". PLOS ONE. 8 (2): e57315. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...857315W. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057315 . PMC   3581471 . PMID   23451203.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ "Leeds Museums and Galleries object of the week heavy footed moa" . Retrieved 11 December 2020.
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