| Brief Description |
The breastbone or sternum of a moa, dish-shaped and with no keel for attaching flight muscles. Moa belonged to a group called ratites, from the Greek ratis or raft, referring to the shape of their sternum. This bone was collected during a Museum excavation in 1936–37 from a mud hole near Makirikiri, Whanganui.
The Bush Moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis) was a common inhabitant of wetter New Zealand forest, and the most widespread moa species. It was just over 1 m high at the shoulder, with females somewhat bigger than males. Its sharp-edged beak and the number of gizzard stones found with skeletons suggest it ate fibrous plant material. Like all moa species, the Bush Moa was wiped out by human hunting about 500 years ago.
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