| Brief Description |
The right and left tarsometatarsi or foot bones, each made up of several fused bones. They had three toes pointing forward and a small one at the back. Moa had short stout foot bones and short strides. 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 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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