Bush moa

The bush moa, little bush moa, or lesser moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis) is an extinct species of moa from the family Emeidae (lesser moa).

Bush moa
Temporal range: Pleistocene-Holocene
skeleton

Extinct (~1400s) (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Palaeognathae
Order: †Dinornithiformes
Family: †Emeidae
Genus: †Anomalopteryx
Reichenbach 1852
Species:
†A. didiformis
Binomial name
†Anomalopteryx didiformis
(Owen 1844) Reichenbach 1853[2][3]
Synonyms
  • Dinornis didiformis Owen, 1844
  • Anomalopteryx didiformis (Owen 1844) Lydekker 1891
  • Anomalornis didiformis (Owen 1844) Hutton 1897
  • Dinornis dromioides Owen, 1846 non Oliver 1930
  • Anomalopteryx dromaeoides (Owen 1846) Lydekker 1891
  • Dinornis parvus Owen, 1883
  • Anomalopteryx parva (Owen 1883) Lydekker 1891
  • Dinornis oweni Haast, 1886
  • Anomalornis owenii (Haast 1886) Hutton 1897
  • Pachyornis owenii (Haast 1886) Archey 1941
  • Anomalopteryx oweni (Haast 1886) Oliver 1949
  • Anomalopteryx antiquus Hutton, 1892 (may be a valid predecessor species)
  • Anomalopteryx fortis Hutton, 1893
  • Anomalornis gracilis Hutton 1897 non Dinornis gracilis Owen 1854
  • Anomalornis (Hutton, 1897)
  • Graya (Bonaparte, 1956)

Description

It was the smallest known species of moa,[4] only slightly taller than a turkey. A slender bird, it weighed around 30 kilograms (66 lb).[5] As with all moa, they have with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate.[6] It inhabited much of the North Island and small sections of the South Island of New Zealand. Its habitat was dense lowland conifer, broad-leafed southern beech forests and scrubland.[5][6] It possessed a sturdy, sharp-edged beak, suggesting that its diet was made up of twigs and other tough plant material.[5][4]

Threats and extinction

Native predators included the Haast's eagle and Eyles' harrier.[5] The species went extinct alongside other native New Zealand wildlife around 500-600 years ago, following the arrival and proliferation of the Maori people in New Zealand (who called them "moariki"),[1] as well as the introduction of Polynesian dogs.[5]

Archaelogical remains

The most complete remains, a partially articulated skeleton with substantial mummified tissue and feathers were discovered in 1980 in Lake Echo Valley, east of Te Anau, Southland.[7] It is now in the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, in Invercargill. Anomalopteryx fossils made up the bulk of moa fossils discovered in a swamp in 1912 in Clevedon.[8]

Possible de-extinction

Scientists at Harvard University assembled the first nearly complete genome of the species from toe bones,[9][10] thus bringing the species a step closer to being "resurrected" in the future by using the emu as a proxy.[9]

Skeleton

References
  1. "Anomalopteryx didiformis. NZTCS". nztcs.org.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  2. Brands, Sheila (14 August 2008). "Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification, Genus Anomalopteryx". Project: The Taxonomicon. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  3. B.J. Gill; B.D. Bell; G.K. Chambers; D.G. Medway; R.L. Palma; R.P. Scofield; A.J.D. Tennyson & T.H. Worthy (2010). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica (PDF) (4th ed.). Wellington, NZ: Te Papa Press. ISBN 978-1-877385-59-9.
  4. Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2006). Extinct birds of New Zealand. Paul Martinson. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-909010-21-8. OCLC 80016906.
  5. "Little bush moa | New Zealand Birds Online". nzbirdsonline.org.nz. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  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 0-7876-5784-0.
  7. Forrest, R. M. (1987). "A partially mummified skeleton of Anomalopteryx didiformis from Southland". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Royal Society of New Zealand. 17 (4): 399–408. doi:10.1080/03036758.1987.10426481. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  8. Gill, B.J. (2003). "HISTORICAL MOA BONE COLLECTIONS (AVES: DINORNITHIFORMES) AT AUCKLAND MUSEUM—CLEVEDON AND KIA ORA". Records of the Auckland Museum. 40: 39–53. ISSN 1174-9202.
  9. "Scientists reconstruct the genome of a moa, a bird extinct for 700 years". STAT. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  10. "Anomalopteryx didiformis (ID 124) - Genome - NCBI".


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