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MOA , apparently the See also:Maori name of the See also:extinct Ratite birds in New See also:Zealand, comprising the See also:group Dinornithes (cf. See also:BIRD: See also:Classification; and See also:RATITAE). The earliest See also:account of these birds is that of Polack (New Zealand, See also:London, 1838), who speaks of the former existence of some struthious birds in the See also:north See also:island as proved by fossil bones which were shown to him. " The natives added that, in times See also:long past, they received the tradition that very large birds had existed, but the scarcity of See also:food, as well as the easy method of entrapping them, had caused their extermination." In the North Island the moas seem to have died out soon after the arrival of the Maoris, according to F. W. See also:Hutton, some 700-500 years ago. In the See also:South Island they seem to have lingered much longer, possibly, according to H. O. See also:Forbes (Nat Sci. II. 1893, pp. 374–380), " down even to the See also:time that See also:Captain See also:Cook visited New Zealand." But these are only surmises, based upon the fact that in various dry caves limbs still surrounded by the mummified flesh and skin, feathers, and even eggs with the inner membrane, have been found. See also:Great quantities of bones have been found in caves and in swamps, so that now nearly every See also:part of the See also:skeleton, of some See also:kind or other, is known. The most striking feature of the moas, besides the truly gigantic See also:size of some See also:species, is the almost See also:complete See also:absence of the wings. In fact, the whole skeletons of the wings and of the See also:shoulder See also:girdle seem to have been lost, excepting Anomalopteryx dromaeoides, which, according to Hutton,' had still some vestiges. Such a complete reduction of the whole anterior See also:limb and girdle is unique among birds, but the cassowaries indicate the See also:process. In conformity with these reductions the breastbone of the moas is devoid of any coracoidal facets; there is no trace of a See also:keel, and the number of sternal ribs is reduced to three or even two pairs. The See also:hind limbs are very strong; the massive femur has a large pneumatic foramen; the See also:tibia has a bony See also:bridge on the anterior See also:surface of the See also:lower portion, a See also:character in which the moas agree only with Apteryx amongst the other Ratitae. The number of toes is four, unless the hallux is more or less reduced. The See also:pelvis much resembles that of the kiwis. The See also:skull has been monographed by T. J. See also:Parker (" On the See also:Cranial See also:Osteology,- Classification and Phylogeny of the Dinornithidae," Tr. Z. See also:Soc. (1893), xiii. 373–431, pls. 56–62); it resembles in its See also:general configuration that of the emeus and cassowaries, while it differs from that of Apteryx most obviously by the See also:short and stout See also:bill. The feathers have a large after-See also:shaft which is of the size of the other See also:half, likewise in agreement with the Australian Ratitae, while in the others, including the kiwis, the after-shaft is absent. Another important point, in which the moas agree with the other Ratitae and differ from the kiwis, are the branched, instead of See also:simple, porous canals in the eggshell. ' " The Moas of New Zealand," Tr. N. Zea. Inst. (1892), See also:xxiv. 93–172, pls. xv.–xvii. The See also:affinities of the moas are undoubtedly with the Australian Ratitae, and, in spite of the See also:differences mentioned above, with the kiwis. In this respect Max Fiirbringer and T. J. Parker are in perfect agreement. The relationship with Aepyornis of See also:Madagascar is still problematic. Whilst the moas seem to have been entirely herbivorous, feeding not unlikely upon the " shoots of ferns, the kiwis have become highly specialized See also:worm-eaters. In this respect cassowaries and emeus hold an inter-mediate position, their occasional zoophagous (especially piscivorous) inclination being well known. Unmolested by enemies (Harpagornis, a tremendous bird of See also:prey, died out with the See also:Pleistocene), living in an equable insular See also:climate, with abundant vegetation, the moas flourished and seem to have reached their greatest development in specialization, See also:numbers, and a bewildering variety of large and small kinds, within quite See also:recent times. Unfortunately no fossil moas, older than the Pleiocene, are known. Parker recognizes five genera, with about twenty species, which he combines into three sub-families: Dinornithinae with Dinornis, Anomalopteryginae with Pachyornis, Mesopteryx and Anomalopteryx, comprising the comparatively least specialized forms; and Emeinae with the genus Emeus, not to be See also:con-founded with the See also:vernacular See also:emeu. The moas ranged in size from that of a See also:turkey to truly See also:colossal dimensions, the See also:giant being Dinornis See also:maximus, which, with a tibial length of 39 in., stood with its small See also:head about 12 ft. above the ground. (H. F. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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