Brief Description |
The distal end and part of the shaft of a tarsometatarsus or foot bone, made up of several fused bones, showing the distinctive length of the genus Dinornis that gave them a much longer stride than other moa. (This is the same individual bird as 2001.2.1.1.) 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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