Eastern moa

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Eastern moa
Temporal range: Pleistocene-Holocene
Emeus crassus 5435.JPG
Skeleton in Musee des Confluences, Lyon
Status NZTCS EX.svg
Extinct  (1400s) (NZ TCS) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Palaeognathae
Order: Dinornithiformes
Family: Emeidae
Genus: Emeus
Reichenbach, 1852
Species:
E. crassus
Binomial name
Emeus crassus
(Owen, 1846) Reichenbach 1853 non Parker 1895 [2] [3] [4]
Synonyms
List
  • Dinornis crassus Owen, 1846
  • Syornis crassus(Owen 1846) Hutton 1891
  • Euryapteryx crassus(Owen 1846) Hutton 1896 non Benham 1910
  • Dinornis casuarinus Owen, 1846
  • Dinornis huttonii Owen, 1846 (male)
  • Emeus huttonii(Owen 1879) Oliver, 1930
  • Megalapteryx huttoni(Owen 1879) Rothschild 1907
  • Dinornis major(Hutton, 1875)
  • Dinornis rheides(Owen, 1851)
  • Cela rheides(Owen 1850) Rothschild 1907
  • Dinornis casuarinusOliver 1846
  • Emeus casuarinus(Oliver, 1930)
  • Syornis casuarinus(Owen 1846) bach 1850
  • Anomalopteryx casuarina(Owen 1846) Lydekker 1891
  • Mesopteryx casuarina(Owen 1846) Parker 1895
  • Meionornis casuarinus(Owen 1846) Hutton 1896
  • Cela casuarinus(Owen 1846) Rothschild 1907
  • Mesopteryx didinaHutton 1893 non Dinornis didinus Owen 1883
  • Meionornis didinus(Hutton 1893) Hutton 1896 non Dinornis didinus Owen 1883
  • MeionornisHaast, 1874
  • MesopteryxHutton, 1891
  • SyornisReichenbach, 1850

The eastern moa (Emeus crassus) is an extinct species of moa that was endemic to New Zealand. [5] [6]

Contents

Taxonomy

When the first specimens were originally described by Richard Owen, they were placed within the genus Dinornis as three different species, but, was later split off into their own genus, Emeus. [7] E. crassus is currently the only species of Emeus, as the other two species, E. casuarinus and E. huttonii are now regarded as synonyms of E. crassus. It has been long suspected that the "species" described as Emeus huttonii and E. crassus were males and females, respectively, of a single species. This has been confirmed by analysis for sex-specific genetic markers of DNA extracted from bone material; the females of E. crassus were 15-25% larger than males. [8] This phenomenon — sexual dimorphism — is not uncommon amongst ratites, being also very pronounced in kiwis.

Description

Skeleton in the Copenhagen Zoological Museum Emeus crassus.jpg
Skeleton in the Copenhagen Zoological Museum

Emeus was of average size, standing 1.5 to 1.8 metres (4.9–5.9 ft) tall, and weighing from 36 to 79kg. [9] Like other moa, it had no vestigial wing bones, hair-like feathers (beige in this case), a long neck and large, powerful legs with very short, strong tarsi. [10] Its tarsometatarsus was restricted in motion to the parasagittal plane, much like most other ratites. [11] It also had a sternum without a keel and a distinctive palate. [10] Emeus had pelvic musculature poorly adapted for cursoriality. [12] Its feet were exceptionally wide compared to other moas, making it a very slow creature. Soft parts of its body, such as tracheal rings (cartilage) or remnants of skin were found, as well as single bones and complete skeletons. As they neared the head, the feathers grew shorter, until they finally turned into coarse hair-like feathers; the head itself was probably bald. [13]

Range and habitat

Neck and leg bones with soft tissue Animals of the past BHL18007259.jpg
Neck and leg bones with soft tissue

Eastern moa lived only on the South Island, and lived in the lowlands (forests, grasslands, dunelands, and shrublands). [10] During the Last Glacial Maximum, it was confined to a single glacial refugium from which its range expanded during the Holocene. [14] Human colonists (specifically the Māori, who called them "moa mōmona") [1] hunted Emeus into extinction with relative ease. E. crassus was the second most common species found at the Wairau Bar site in Marlborough, where more than 4000 moa were eaten. The species had gone extinct by about 1400. [6]

Related Research Articles

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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.

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

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<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.

<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.

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

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

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

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

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References

  1. 1 2 "Emeus crassus. NZTCS". nztcs.org.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  2. Reichenbach, Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig (1852). Avium systema naturale. Expedition der vollständigsten Naturgeschichte. p. plate XXX.
  3. Brands, Sheila (Aug 14, 2008). "Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification, Genus Emeus". Project: The Taxonomicon. Retrieved Feb 4, 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. 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.
  5. Benes, Josef (1979). Prehistoric Animals and Plants. London, UK: Hamlyn. p. 192. ISBN   0-600-30341-1.
  6. 1 2 Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2006). Extinct birds of New Zealand. Paul Martinson. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Press. p. 34. ISBN   978-0-909010-21-8. OCLC   80016906.
  7. Owen, Richard (1846). "Description of Dinornis crassus". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1846: 46.
  8. Huynen, Leon J.; Millar, Craig D.; Scofield, R. P.; Lambert, David M. (2003). "Nuclear DNA sequences detect species limits in ancient moa". Nature . 425 (6954): 175–178. Bibcode:2003Natur.425..175H. doi:10.1038/nature01838. PMID   12968179. S2CID   4413995.(2003)
  9. Tennyson, Alan; Martinson, Paul (2006-01-01). Extinct Birds of New Zealand. Te Papa Press. ISBN   978-0-909010-21-8.
  10. 1 2 3 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.
  11. Zinoviev, Andrei V. (14 March 2015). "Comparative anatomy of the intertarsal joint in extant and fossil birds: inferences for the locomotion of Hesperornis regalis (Hesperornithiformes) and Emeus crassus (Dinornithiformes)". Journal of Ornithology . 156 (S1): 317–323. doi:10.1007/s10336-015-1195-4. ISSN   2193-7192 . Retrieved 26 July 2024 via Springer Link.
  12. Zinoviev, A. V. (19 December 2013). "Notes on the pelvic musculature of Emeus crassus and Dinornis robustus (Aves: Dinornithiformes)". Paleontological Journal . 47 (11): 1245–1251. Bibcode:2013PalJ...47.1245Z. doi:10.1134/S003103011311018X. ISSN   0031-0301 . Retrieved 26 July 2024 via Springer Link.
  13. Rawlence, Nj; Wood, Jr; Scofield, Rp; Fraser, C; Tennyson, Ajd (2013). "Soft-tissue specimens from pre-European extinct birds of New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 43 (3): 154–181. Bibcode:2013JRSNZ..43..154R. doi:10.1080/03036758.2012.704878. hdl: 10289/7785 . S2CID   54024852.
  14. Verry, Alexander J. F.; Mitchell, Kieren J.; Rawlence, Nicolas J. (11 May 2022). "Genetic evidence for post-glacial expansion from a southern refugium in the eastern moa ( Emeus crassus )". Biology Letters . 18 (5). doi:10.1098/rsbl.2022.0013. ISSN   1744-957X. PMC   9091836 . PMID   35538842.