| Brief Description |
Left and right tibiotarsi or shin bones, the largest bones in a moa’s body. Made up of a fused tibia and foot bones, the tibiotarsus was partly feathered and flexed mostly at the ankle. These two bones are tied together and labelled as one, suggesting they were dredged from the mudhole at Makirikiri together in 1936 or 1937 and are from the same bird.
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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