North Island giant moa

Common card · No. 373344

The North Island giant moa (Dinornis novaezealandiae) is an extinct moa in the genus Dinornis, known in Māori as kuranui. It was a large, herbivorous bird belonging to the order Dinornithiformes, and exhibited a strong sexual dimorphism, with males weighing between 55 and 88 kg and females between 78 and 249 kg. It was one of the tallest birds ever to exist, able to stretch its head to approximately 3 metres. Dinornis novaezealandiae inhabited the North Island of New Zealand, living in lowland habitats like shrublands, grasslands and forests, fulfilling a role as one of the largest terrestrial herbivores in New Zealand's ecosystem. It is believed to have been primarily herbivorous, although consumption of fungi has also been proposed. They laid large, fragile eggs which were incubated by the males, although the exact method is unknown. Along with much of the other native fauna, Dinornis novaezealandiae disappeared from New Zealand around the 15th century, roughly 200 years after the Māori...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Natural History Museum, London, CC BY 4.0