Dinornis novaezealandiae

North Island giant moa (†D. novaezealandiae (Owen 1843))

 

Class: Aves

Superorder: Paleognathae

Order: Dinornithiformes

Family: Dinornithidae

Time period: They became extinct, probably in the 12th or 13th century (the North Island of New Zealand)

Size: more than 3 in height, 200 - 250 kg of weight

 

The North Island giant moa  is one of two extinct moa in the genus Dinornis. It is a ratite and a member of the order Dinornithiformes. The Dinorthiformes are flightless birds with a sternum but 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 where they have been found. This moa lived on the North Island of New Zealand, and lived in the lowlands (shrublands, grasslands, dunelands, and forests).

 

Dinornithiformes, New Zealand, birds, moa, dinornis, flightless birds, pleistocene, holocene, antropocene