Mantell's moa

Mantell's moa
Temporal range: Pleistocene- Late Holocene
from the collection of Auckland Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Palaeognathae
Order: †Dinornithiformes
Family: †Emeidae
Genus: †Pachyornis
Species:
†P. geranoides
Binomial name
†Pachyornis geranoides
(Owen, 1848)[1][2]
Synonyms
List
  • Palapteryx geranoides Owen, 1848 non Euryapteryx geranoides Checklist Committee 1990
  • Dinornis geranoides (Owen 1848) Owen 1866
  • Anomalopteryx geranoides (Owen 1848) Lydekker, 1891
  • Cela geranoides (Owen 1848) Hutton 1891
  • Dinornis curtus Owen 1871 non Owen 1846
  • Anomalopteryx curta (Owen 1871) Lydekker 1891
  • Pachyornis pygmaeus Hutton 1895 non Euryapteryx pygmaeus Hutton 1891
  • Dinornis expunctus Archey, 1927
  • Pachyornis septentrionalis (Oliver 1949) Brodkorb 1963
  • Pachyornis mappini Archey, 1941

Mantell's moa (Pachyornis geranoides) also known as Mappin's moa or moa ruarangi[3] is an extinct species of moa from the North Island of New Zealand.[4] Its habitat was the lowlands (shrublands, grasslands, dunelands, and forests).[5] The moa were ratites, flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. The origin of the ratites 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.[5]

Its name is in honour of New Zealand naturalist and politician Walter Mantell.

  1. ^ Brands, S. (2008)
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Mantell's moa | New Zealand Birds Online".
  4. ^ Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2006). Extinct birds of New Zealand. Paul Martinson. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-909010-21-8. OCLC 80016906.
  5. ^ a b Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003)