South Island Giant Moa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| South Island Giant Moa | |
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| Skeleton, Natural History Museum of London | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Superorder: | Paleognathae |
| Order: | Struthioniformes |
| Family: | Dinornithidae |
| Genus: | Dinornis |
| Species: | Dinornis giganteus (Owen, 1844)[1] |
| Binomial name | |
| D. giganteus (Owen, 1844) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The South Island Giant Moa, Dinornis giganteus is a member of the Moa family. It was a ratite and a member of the Struthioniformes Order. The Struthioniformes are flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. The origin of these birds is becoming clearer as it is now believed that early ancestors of these birds were able to fly and flew to the southern areas that they have been found in.[2]
It lived on the South Island of New Zealand, and its habitat was the lowlands (shrubland, duneland, grassland, and forests).[2]
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[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
- Brands, Sheila (Aug 14 2008). "Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification, Genus Dinornis". Project: The Taxonomicon. http://www.taxonomy.nl/Main/Classification/51294.htm. Retrieved Feb 04 2009.
- Davies, S.J.J.F. (2003). "Moas". In Hutchins, Michael. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2 ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 95–98. ISBN 0 7876 5784 0.
[edit] External Links
- South Island Giant Moa. Dinornis robustus. by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book Extinct Birds of New Zealand, by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006
