Megalapterygidae

Taxonomy

Richard Owen named the species Dinornis didinus in 1883 from mummified material collected in 1878 by H. L. Squires near Queenstown, New Zealand. The holotype includes a mummified head, partial neck, and two mummified legs with feathers. A 2005 genetic study suggested that Megalapteryx benhami, previously considered a junior synonym of M. didinus, may be a valid species. A 2009 analysis by Bunce et al. produced a cladogram for the group.

Description

The upland moa stood less than 1 metre tall and weighed between 17 and 34 kilograms, making it among the smallest moa species. Unlike other moas, feathers covered its entire body except the beak and soles of the feet, an adaptation to cold environments. It carried itself in a stooped posture with its head level to its back, which aided movement through dense vegetation. It had no wings or tail.

The species has the best-preserved mummified remains of any moa. Notable specimens include British Museum A16 (a mummified head, partial neck, and two partial hindlimbs from Queenstown), Otago Museum C.68.2A (a leg with muscle, 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), MNZTPT NMNZ S.023808 (a foot with muscle and sinews from Mount Owen, dated to about 3,300–3,400 years old), MNZTPT NMNZ S.027950 (feathers from Takahe Valley), Canterbury Museum NZ 1725 (a partial egg from the Rakaia River, radiocarbon dated to approximately AD 1300–AD 1400, with dark olive green shell), MNZTPT NMNZ S.023700 (a complete skeleton from Honeycomb Hill Cave), and Otago Museum AV10049 (a skeleton and partial egg from the Serpentine Range).

Behavior and ecology

The upland moa was herbivorous, eating leaves, small twigs, branchlets of trees such as Nothofagus, lake-edge herbs, tussock, and nectar-rich flowers. Its beak was best suited for pulling backwards while twisting the head, and its large crop helped grind food. Coprolite evidence suggests it fed in high alpine areas during summer and descended to lower forests in winter, similar to the living takahē, and may have dispersed seeds of alpine plants. It laid 1 to 2 blue-green eggs at once, likely the only moa to lay non-white eggs.

Males cared for the young, as in emus and ostriches. Its only predator before humans was Haast's eagle. It lived on the South Island in mountains and sub-alpine regions up to 2000 metres elevation. Māori arrived around AD 1250 to AD 1300 and hunted the docile birds, leading to extinction by AD 1445.