South Island Giant Moa

South Island Giant Moa
Dinornis giganteus skull at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
Conservation status
Extinct (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Superorder:	Paleognathae
Order:	Struthioniformes
Family:	Dinornithidae
Genus:	Dinornis
Species:	Dinornis giganteus (Owen, 1844)[1]
Binomial name
D. giganteus (Owen, 1844)

Comparison of a kiwi, ostrich, and Dinornis giganteus, each with its egg.

Sir Richard Owen and Dinornis giganteus skeleton

The South Island Giant Moa, Dinornis giganteus is a member of the Moa family. It was a ratite and a member of the Struthioniformes Order. The Struthioniformes are flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. The origin of these birds is becoming clearer as it is now believed that early ancestors of these birds were able to fly and flew to the southern areas that they have been found in.^[2]

It lived on the South Island of New Zealand, and its habitat was the lowlands (shrubland, duneland, grassland, and forests).^[2]

See also

• List of extinct birds

Footnotes

1. ^ Brands, S. (2008)
2. ^ ^{a b} Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003)

References

• Brands, Sheila (Aug 14 2008). "Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification, Genus Dinornis". Project: The Taxonomicon. http://www.taxonomy.nl/Main/Classification/51294.htm. Retrieved Feb 04 2009. 
• Davies, S.J.J.F. (2003). "Moas". In Hutchins, Michael. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2 ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 95–98. ISBN 0 7876 5784 0. 

External Links

• South Island Giant Moa. Dinornis robustus. 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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