Moa | |
---|---|
Airtist's rendeetion o a Haast's Eagle attackin moa | |
Scientific classification | |
Kinrick: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Cless: | Aves |
Superorder: | Palaeognathae Bonaparte, 1853 |
Order: | †Dinornithiformes Bonaparte, 1853 |
Teep species | |
†Dinornis novaezealandiae Owen, 1843
| |
Subgroups | |
See text | |
Diversity | |
6 genera, 9 species | |
Synonyms | |
|
The moa wur nine species (in sax genera) o flichtless birds endemic tae New Zealand. The twa lairgest species, Dinornis robustus an Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached aboot 3.6 m (12 ft) in hicht wi neck outstretched, an weighed aboot 230 kg (510 lb).
Moa belang tae the ratite group in the order Dinornithiformes. The nine species o moa wur the anly wingless birds, lackin even the vestigial wings which aw ither ratites hae. Thay wur the dominant herbivores in New Zealand's forest, shrubland an subalpine ecosystems for thoosands o years, an till the arrival o the Māori wur hunted anly bi the Haast's Eagle. It is generally considered that maist, if nae aw, species o moa died oot bi A.D. 1400 due tae owerhuntin bi the Māori an habitat decline.
Soorces