The upland moa (Megalapteryx didinus) 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.[4]
The upland moa was named as Dinornis didinus in 1883 by Richard Owen from mummified material found in 1878 by H. L. Squires in Queenstown, New Zealand and sent to the British Museum. The holotype specimen consists of a mummified head and partial neck, and two mummified legs and feet which preserve the feathers.[5]
In 2005, a genetic study suggested that M. benhami, which had previously been considered a junior synonym of M. didinus, may have been a valid species after all.[6][7]
The cladogram below follows a 2009 analysis by Bunce et al.:[8]
At less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) tall and about 17 to 34 kilograms (37 to 75 lb) in weight, the upland moa was among the smallest of the moa species.[9] Unlike other moas, it had feathers covering all of its body but the beak and the soles of its feet, an adaptation to its cold environment.[10] Scientists believed in the past that the upland moa held its neck and head upright; however, it actually carried itself in a stooped posture with its head level to its back. This would have helped it travel through the abundant vegetation in its habitat, whereas an extended neck would have been more suited to open spaces.[11] It had no wings or tail.[12]
Distribution and habitatedit
The upland moa lived only on New Zealand's South Island, in mountains and sub-alpine regions. They travelled to elevations as high as 2000 m (7000 ft).[11]
Behavior and ecologyedit
Mummified head head of the holotype, as illustrated in Owen's 1883 article
The upland moa was herbivorous, its diet extrapolated from fossilised stomach contents, droppings, and the structure of its beak and crop. It ate leaves and small twigs, using its beak to "shear ... with scissor-like moves".[11] However, bio-mechanical testing of its beak and head has shown it was best suited to feed by pulling backwards, possibly while twisting its head to the side.[13] Its food required grinding before it could be digested, as indicated by its large crop.[11] Studies of the upland moa's coprolites provided evidence that branchlets of trees such as Nothofagus, various lake-edge herbs, tussock, and the nectar-rich flowers made up part of its diet.[14][15] Based on the pollen present in the coprolites, it is suggested they had a similar lifestyle to the living takahē, feeding in high alpine areas during the summer and descending to lower altitude forests in the winter. They may also have played an important role in the seed dispersal of alpine plants.[15]
This moa usually laid only 1 to 2 blue-green coloured eggs at once,[11][16] and was likely the only type of moa to lay eggs that were not white in colour.[17] Like the emu and ostrich, male moa cared for the young.[10] The upland moa's only predator before the arrival of humans in New Zealand was the Haast's eagle.[11]
Extinctionedit
Humans first came in contact with the upland moa around 1250 to 1300 AD, when the Māori people arrived in New Zealand from Polynesia. Moa, a docile animal, were an easy source of food for the Māori (who called them "moa pukepuke")[1] and were eventually hunted to extinction in 1445.[11][18]
Discoveriesedit
Preserved foot of the holotype specimen
The species has the best-preserved mummified remains of any moa species. [19] Several specimens with soft tissue and feather remains are known:
Canterbury Museum NZ 1725, Remains of one partial egg which have been found at the Rakaia River in 1971 are tentatively attributed to this species. The radiocarbon date of approximately AD 1300–1400 is in line with this. Unusually, the eggshell is dark olive green, but even if the egg is of M. didinus, the shell colour may have varied between individual eggs.[23]
Otago Museum AV10049, skeleton and partial egg found in 2002 at Serpentine Range, Humboldt Mountains.[25]
Referencesedit
^ ab"Megalapteryx didinus. NZTCS". nztcs.org.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
^ abBrands, Sheila J. (1989). "The Taxonomicon". Zwaag, Netherlands: Universal Taxonomic Services. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
^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.
^Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2006). Extinct birds of New Zealand. Paul Martinson. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Press. ISBN978-0-909010-21-8. OCLC 80016906.
^Owen, Richard (1883). "On Dinornis (Part XXIV): containing a Description of the Head and Feet, with their dried Integuments, of an Individual of the species Dinornis didinus, Owen". Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. 11 (8). London : Zoological Society of London: 257–261. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
^Baker, A. J.; Huynen, L. J.; Haddrath, O.; Millar, C. D.; Lambert, D. M. (2005). "Reconstructing the tempo and mode of evolution in an extinct clade of birds with ancient DNA: The giant moas of New Zealand". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (23): 8257–62. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.8257B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0409435102. PMC1149408. PMID 15928096.
^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. ISBN978-0-7876-5784-0.
^Bunce, M.; Worthy, T. H.; Phillips, M. J.; Holdaway, R. N.; Willerslev, E.; Haile, J.; Shapiro, B.; Scofield, R. P.; Drummond, A.; Kamp, P. J. J.; Cooper, A. (2009). "The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (49): 20646–20651. Bibcode:2009PNAS..10620646B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0906660106. PMC2791642. PMID 19923428.
^Vickers-Rich, P.; Trusler, P.; Rowley, M. J.; Cooper, A. (1 January 1995). "Morphology, myology, collagen and DNA of a mummified upland moa, Megalapteryx didinus (Aves: dinorthiformes) from New Zealand". Tuhinga: The Records of the Museum of New Zealand te Papa Tongarewa. 4: 1–26.
^ abFlannery, Tim, "A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals", October 2001, "[1]"
^Attard, Marie R. G.; Wilson, Laura A. B.; Worthy, Trevor H.; Scofield, Paul; Johnston, Peter; Parr, William C. H.; Wroe, Stephen (2016). "Moa diet fits the bill: virtual reconstruction incorporating mummified remains and prediction of biomechanical performance in avian giants". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 283 (1822): 20152043. doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.2043. PMC4721086. PMID 26763698. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
^Horrocks, Mark; D'Costa, Donna; Wallace, Rod; Gardner, Rhys; Kondo, Renzo (2004). "Plant remains in coprolites: diet of a subalpine moa (Dinornithiformes) from southern New Zealand". Emu - Austral Ornithology. 104 (2): 149–156. doi:10.1071/MU03019. S2CID 86345660.
^ abWood, Jamie R.; Wilmshurst, Janet M.; Wagstaff, Steven J.; Worthy, Trevor H.; Rawlence, Nicolas J.; Cooper, Alan (2012). "High-Resolution Coproecology: Using Coprolites to Reconstruct the Habits and Habitats of New Zealand's Extinct Upland Moa (Megalapteryx didinus)". PLOS ONE. 7 (6): e40025. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...740025W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0040025. PMC3386916. PMID 22768206. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
^Igic, Branislav; Greenwood, David R.; Palmer, David J.; Cassey, Phillip; Gill, Brian J.; Grim, Tomas; Brennan, Patricia L. R.; Bassett, Suzanne M.; Battley, Phil F.; Hauber, Mark E. (2010). "Detecting pigments from colourful eggshells of extinct birds". Chemoecology. 20 (1): 43–48. doi:10.1007/s00049-009-0038-2. S2CID 10956718.
^Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2006). Extinct birds of New Zealand. Paul Martinson. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Press. p. 20. ISBN978-0-909010-21-8. OCLC 80016906.
^Museum of New Zealand(a). "Megalapteryx didinus". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
^Worthy, Trevor H. (1989). (PDF). Notornis. 36 (1): 36–38. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2006.
^Museum of New Zealand(b). "Megalapteryx didinus". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
^McCulloch, Beverley (1992). (PDF). Notornis. 39 (1): 63–65. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2006.
^Museum of New Zealand(c). "Megalapteryx didinus". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
Media related to Megalapteryx didinus at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Megalapteryx didinus at Wikispecies
Upland Moa. Megalapteryx didinus. by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book Extinct Birds of New Zealand by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006
Articulated skeleton at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Articulated Upland moa skeleton at the Otago Museum
January 01, 1970
upland, upland, megalapteryx, didinus, extinct, species, that, endemic, zealand, ratite, grouping, flightless, birds, with, keel, sternum, last, species, become, extinct, vanishing, around, 1500, predominantly, found, alpine, alpine, environments, temporal, ra. The upland moa Megalapteryx didinus 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 4 Upland moaTemporal range Pleistocene Holocene Mounted skeleton from Honeycomb Hill Cave collection of Te Papa Conservation status Extinct c 1500 NZ TCS 1 Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Aves Infraclass Palaeognathae Clade Notopalaeognathae Order Dinornithiformes Family MegalapterygidaeBunce et al 2009 Genus MegalapteryxHaast 1886 2 Species M didinus Binomial name Megalapteryx didinus Owen 1883 2 3 Synonyms list Palaeocasuarius Forbes 1892 ex Rothschild 1907Dinornis didinus Owen 1882 ex Owen 1883Anomalopteryx didina Owen 1883 Lydekker 1891Megalapteryx hectori Haast 1884 ex Haast 1886Megalapteryx tenuipes Lydekker 1891Megalapteryx hamiltoni Rothschild 1907Palaeocasuarius velox Forbes 1892 ex Rothschild 1907Palaeocasuarius elegans Rothschild 1907Palaeocasuarius haasti Forbes 1892 ex Rothschild 1907Megalapteryx benhami Archey 1941 Contents 1 Taxonomy 2 Description 3 Distribution and habitat 4 Behavior and ecology 5 Extinction 6 Discoveries 7 References 8 External linksTaxonomy editThe upland moa was named as Dinornis didinus in 1883 by Richard Owen from mummified material found in 1878 by H L Squires in Queenstown New Zealand and sent to the British Museum The holotype specimen consists of a mummified head and partial neck and two mummified legs and feet which preserve the feathers 5 In 2005 a genetic study suggested that M benhami which had previously been considered a junior synonym of M didinus may have been a valid species after all 6 7 The cladogram below follows a 2009 analysis by Bunce et al 8 Dinornithiformes Megalapteryidae Megalapteryx didinus Dinornithidae Dinornis D robustus D novaezealandiae Emeidae Pachyornis P australis P elephantopus P geranoides Anomalopteryx didiformis Emeus crassus Euryapteryx curtusDescription edit nbsp Restoration from 1907 At less than 1 metre 3 3 ft tall and about 17 to 34 kilograms 37 to 75 lb in weight the upland moa was among the smallest of the moa species 9 Unlike other moas it had feathers covering all of its body but the beak and the soles of its feet an adaptation to its cold environment 10 Scientists believed in the past that the upland moa held its neck and head upright however it actually carried itself in a stooped posture with its head level to its back This would have helped it travel through the abundant vegetation in its habitat whereas an extended neck would have been more suited to open spaces 11 It had no wings or tail 12 Distribution and habitat editThe upland moa lived only on New Zealand s South Island in mountains and sub alpine regions They travelled to elevations as high as 2000 m 7000 ft 11 Behavior and ecology edit nbsp Mummified head head of the holotype as illustrated in Owen s 1883 article The upland moa was herbivorous its diet extrapolated from fossilised stomach contents droppings and the structure of its beak and crop It ate leaves and small twigs using its beak to shear with scissor like moves 11 However bio mechanical testing of its beak and head has shown it was best suited to feed by pulling backwards possibly while twisting its head to the side 13 Its food required grinding before it could be digested as indicated by its large crop 11 Studies of the upland moa s coprolites provided evidence that branchlets of trees such as Nothofagus various lake edge herbs tussock and the nectar rich flowers made up part of its diet 14 15 Based on the pollen present in the coprolites it is suggested they had a similar lifestyle to the living takahe feeding in high alpine areas during the summer and descending to lower altitude forests in the winter They may also have played an important role in the seed dispersal of alpine plants 15 This moa usually laid only 1 to 2 blue green coloured eggs at once 11 16 and was likely the only type of moa to lay eggs that were not white in colour 17 Like the emu and ostrich male moa cared for the young 10 The upland moa s only predator before the arrival of humans in New Zealand was the Haast s eagle 11 Extinction editHumans first came in contact with the upland moa around 1250 to 1300 AD when the Maori people arrived in New Zealand from Polynesia Moa a docile animal were an easy source of food for the Maori who called them moa pukepuke 1 and were eventually hunted to extinction in 1445 11 18 Discoveries edit nbsp Preserved foot of the holotype specimen The species has the best preserved mummified remains of any moa species 19 Several specimens with soft tissue and feather remains are known British Museum A16 found at Queenstown in 1876 is the type of the species Otago Museum C 68 2A leg with much muscle tissue skin and feathers from the Old Man Range Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa NMNZ S 000400 a skeleton with tissue on neck and head from the Cromwell area 20 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa NMNZ S 023080 a foot with some muscle and sinews found on 7 January 1987 at Mount Owen This was dated to be about 3 300 3 400 years old 21 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa NMNZ S 027950 feathers found in 1949 at Takahe Valley Fiordland New Zealand 22 Canterbury Museum NZ 1725 Remains of one partial egg which have been found at the Rakaia River in 1971 are tentatively attributed to this species The radiocarbon date of approximately AD 1300 1400 is in line with this Unusually the eggshell is dark olive green but even if the egg is of M didinus the shell colour may have varied between individual eggs 23 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa NMNZ S 023700 complete skeleton found by Trevor Worthy in March 1987 at Honeycomb Hill Cave Oparara Valley 24 Otago Museum AV10049 skeleton and partial egg found in 2002 at Serpentine Range Humboldt Mountains 25 References edit a b Megalapteryx didinus NZTCS nztcs org nz Retrieved 29 April 2023 a b Brands Sheila J 1989 The Taxonomicon Zwaag Netherlands Universal Taxonomic Services Retrieved 21 January 2010 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 Tennyson Alan J D 2006 Extinct birds of New Zealand Paul Martinson Wellington N Z Te Papa Press ISBN 978 0 909010 21 8 OCLC 80016906 Owen Richard 1883 On Dinornis Part XXIV containing a Description of the Head and Feet with their dried Integuments of an Individual of the species Dinornis didinus Owen Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 11 8 London Zoological Society of London 257 261 Retrieved 7 July 2023 Baker A J Huynen L J Haddrath O Millar C D Lambert D M 2005 Reconstructing the tempo and mode of evolution in an extinct clade of birds with ancient DNA The giant moas of New Zealand Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102 23 8257 62 Bibcode 2005PNAS 102 8257B doi 10 1073 pnas 0409435102 PMC 1149408 PMID 15928096 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 978 0 7876 5784 0 Bunce M Worthy T H Phillips M J Holdaway R N Willerslev E Haile J Shapiro B Scofield R P Drummond A Kamp P J J Cooper A 2009 The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography PDF Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106 49 20646 20651 Bibcode 2009PNAS 10620646B doi 10 1073 pnas 0906660106 PMC 2791642 PMID 19923428 Vickers Rich P Trusler P Rowley M J Cooper A 1 January 1995 Morphology myology collagen and DNA of a mummified upland moa Megalapteryx didinus Aves dinorthiformes from New Zealand Tuhinga The Records of the Museum of New Zealand te Papa Tongarewa 4 1 26 a b Flannery Tim A Gap in Nature Discovering the World s Extinct Animals October 2001 1 a b c d e f g Museum of New Zealand Upland Moa 1998 http collections tepapa govt nz theme aspx irn 1348 TerraNature Flightless Birds Moa http terranature org moa htm Attard Marie R G Wilson Laura A B Worthy Trevor H Scofield Paul Johnston Peter Parr William C H Wroe Stephen 2016 Moa diet fits the bill virtual reconstruction incorporating mummified remains and prediction of biomechanical performance in avian giants Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 283 1822 20152043 doi 10 1098 rspb 2015 2043 PMC 4721086 PMID 26763698 Retrieved 21 July 2023 Horrocks Mark D Costa Donna Wallace Rod Gardner Rhys Kondo Renzo 2004 Plant remains in coprolites diet of a subalpine moa Dinornithiformes from southern New Zealand Emu Austral Ornithology 104 2 149 156 doi 10 1071 MU03019 S2CID 86345660 a b Wood Jamie R Wilmshurst Janet M Wagstaff Steven J Worthy Trevor H Rawlence Nicolas J Cooper Alan 2012 High Resolution Coproecology Using Coprolites to Reconstruct the Habits and Habitats of New Zealand s Extinct Upland Moa Megalapteryx didinus PLOS ONE 7 6 e40025 Bibcode 2012PLoSO 740025W doi 10 1371 journal pone 0040025 PMC 3386916 PMID 22768206 Retrieved 21 July 2023 Igic Branislav Greenwood David R Palmer David J Cassey Phillip Gill Brian J Grim Tomas Brennan Patricia L R Bassett Suzanne M Battley Phil F Hauber Mark E 2010 Detecting pigments from colourful eggshells of extinct birds Chemoecology 20 1 43 48 doi 10 1007 s00049 009 0038 2 S2CID 10956718 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 Worthy Trevor H Moa Moa and people Te Ara the Encyclopedia of New Zealand updated 13 Jul 12 URL http www TeAra govt nz en moa page 4 Tennyson Alan J D 2006 Extinct birds of New Zealand Paul Martinson Wellington N Z Te Papa Press p 20 ISBN 978 0 909010 21 8 OCLC 80016906 Museum of New Zealand a Megalapteryx didinus Collections Online Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Retrieved 18 July 2010 Worthy Trevor H 1989 Mummified moa remains from Mt Owen northwest Nelson PDF Notornis 36 1 36 38 Archived from the original PDF on 27 October 2007 Retrieved 19 August 2006 Museum of New Zealand b Megalapteryx didinus Collections Online Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Retrieved 18 July 2010 McCulloch Beverley 1992 Unique dark olive green moa eggshell from Redcliffe Hill Rakaia Gorge Canterbury PDF Notornis 39 1 63 65 Archived from the original PDF on 18 October 2008 Retrieved 20 August 2006 Museum of New Zealand c Megalapteryx didinus Collections Online Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Retrieved 18 July 2010 THE HUNT IS ON Upland Moa Recovery Project External links edit nbsp Paleontology portal nbsp Media related to Megalapteryx didinus at Wikimedia Commons nbsp Data related to Megalapteryx didinus at Wikispecies Upland Moa Megalapteryx didinus by Paul Martinson Artwork produced for the book Extinct Birds of New Zealand by Alan Tennyson Te Papa Press Wellington 2006 Articulated skeleton at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Articulated Upland moa skeleton at the Otago Museum Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Upland moa amp oldid 1218952917, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
