Dinornis

Dinornis
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Holocene
D. novaezealandiae, Natural History Museum of London
Extinct (c. 1500)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Palaeognathae
Order: †Dinornithiformes
Family: †Dinornithidae
Genus: †Dinornis
Owen, 1843[1]
Species

D. novaezealandiae North Island giant moa
D. robustus South Island giant moa

Synonyms
  • Dinoris (lapsus)
  • Megalornis Owen, 1843 non Gray, 1841: preoccupied, nomen nudum
  • Moa Reichenbach, 1850
  • Movia Reichenbach, 1850
  • Owenia Gray, 1855
  • Palapteryx Owen, 1851
  • Tylopteryx Hutton, 1891

The giant moa (Dinornis) is an extinct genus of birds belonging to the moa family. As with other moa, it was a member of the order Dinornithiformes. It was endemic to New Zealand. Two species of Dinornis are considered valid, the North Island giant moa (Dinornis novaezealandiae) and the South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus). In addition, two further species (new lineage A and lineage B) have been suggested based on distinct DNA lineages.[2]

  1. ^ Checklist Committee Ornithological Society of New Zealand (2010). "Checklist-of-Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica" (PDF). Te Papa Press. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  2. ^ Baker, A. J.; Huynen, L. J.; Haddrath, O.; Millar, C. D.; Lambert, D. M. (2005). "Reconstructing the tempo and mode of evolution in an extinct clade of birds with ancient DNA: The giant moas of New Zealand". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (23): 8257–62. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.8257B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0409435102. PMC 1149408. PMID 15928096.