| Brief Description |
The left and right tibiotarsi or shin bones, the largest bones in a moa’s body. Made up of a fused tibia and foot bones, they were partly feathered and flexed mostly at the ankle. These two bones are wired 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 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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