| 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. Because the bones have only partially fused in this specimen, we can tell it was from a juvenile, only a few years old. This bone was collected during a Museum excavation in 1936–37 from a mud hole near Makirikiri, Whanganui.
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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