The moa[3][4] wur nine species (in sax genera) o flichtless birds endemic tae New Zealand.[5] The twa lairgest species, Dinornis robustus an Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached aboot 3.6 m (12 ft) in hicht wi neck outstretched, an weighed aboot 230 kg (510 lb).[6]

Moa
Airtist's rendeetion o a Haast's Eagle attackin moa
Scientific classification e
Kinrick: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Cless: Aves
Superorder: Palaeognathae
Bonaparte, 1853[1]
Order: Dinornithiformes
Bonaparte, 1853
Teep species
Dinornis novaezealandiae
Owen, 1843
Subgroups

See text

Diversity[2]
6 genera, 9 species
Synonyms
  • Dinornithes

Moa belang tae the ratite group in the order Dinornithiformes.[5] The nine[5] species o moa wur the anly wingless birds, lackin even the vestigial wings which aw ither ratites hae. Thay wur the dominant herbivores in New Zealand's forest, shrubland an subalpine ecosystems for thoosands o years, an till the arrival o the Māori wur hunted anly bi the Haast's Eagle. It is generally considered that maist, if nae aw, species o moa died oot bi A.D. 1400 due tae owerhuntin bi the Māori an habitat decline.

References

eedit
  1. Brands, S. (2008)
  2. Stephenson, Brent (2009)
  3. In Māori wirds dae nae uise s tae indicate plural, an thus "moa" is baith plural an singular. Some Inglis speakers apply this rule tae thair uise o the word within Inglis, altho ithers uise the regularly furmed Inglis plural "moas".
  4. In some ither Polynesian leids (Tahitian, Cook Islands Maori, Samoan...), "moa" is the generic name for chicken, fowl (Dictionary of the Tahitian Academy {fr/ty} Archived 2008-04-05 at the Wayback Machine; Jasper Buse, Raututi Taringa, "Cook islands Maori Dictionary" (1995); Samoan lexicon Archived 2010-01-10 at the Wayback Machine)
  5. Jump up to: a b c OSNZ (2009)
  6. Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003)

Soorces

  • Brands, Sheila (14 August 2008). "Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification, Order Dinornithiformes". Project: The Taxonomicon. Archived frae the original on 7 Mairch 2009. Retrieved 4 Februar 2009.
  • Stephenson, Brent (5 Januar 2009). "New Zealand Recognised Bird Names (NZRBN) database". New Zealand: Ornithological Society of New Zealand. Archived frae the original on 25 Apryle 2015. Retrieved 10 Mey 2010.
  • OSNZ (Januar 2009). "New Zealand Recognised Bird Names (NZRBN) database". Ornithological Society of New Zealand Inc. Retrieved 14 Februar 2011.
  • Davies, S.J.J.F. (2003). "Moas". In Hutchins, Michael (ed.). 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.