Brief Description |
A tarsometatarsus or foot bone, made up of several fused bones. It had three toes pointing forward and a small one at the back. Giant Moa had proportionately longer tarsometatarsi than other moa and could take longer strides. This bone was collected during a Museum excavation in 1936–37 from a mud hole near Makirikiri, Whanganui.
The North Island Giant Moa (Dinornis novaezealandiae), found throughout North Island forests, was one of two giant moa species. Females stretched up 3 m high, and DNA evidence from bones shows that they were twice the size of males. Giant moa were hunted to extinction 500 years ago.
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