| 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. Pachyornis had especially short, stout foot bones and short strides. Collected by Taylor Brown from a tomo or sinkhole on Motukawa Land Co Ltd farm, Moawhango Valley Road near Taihape in December 2000, and donated by landowner Warren Plimmer.
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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