Eastern moa
Temporal range: Pleistocene-Holocene
Skeleton in Musee des Confluences, Lyon

Extinct (1400s) (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
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 casuarinus Oliver 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 didina Hutton 1893 non Dinornis didinus Owen 1883
  • Meionornis didinus (Hutton 1893) Hutton 1896 non Dinornis didinus Owen 1883
  • Meionornis Haast, 1874
  • Mesopteryx Hutton, 1891
  • Syornis Reichenbach, 1850

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

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 — size dimorphism — is not uncommon amongst ratites, being also very pronounced in kiwis.

Description

Skeleton in the Copenhagen Zoological Museum

Emeus was of average size, standing 1.5 to 1.8 metres (4.9–5.9 ft) tall. 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. It also had a sternum without a keel and a distinctive palate.[9] 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.[10]

Range and habitat

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).[9] Human colonists (specifically the Māori, who called them "moa mōmona")[1] hunted Emeus into extinction with relative ease. Like all moa, it was gone by the year 1500.

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.
  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. ↑ 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. 1 2 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.
  10. ↑ 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.
  • Eastern Moa. Emeus crassus. by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book Extinct Birds of New Zealand, by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006
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