Megalapteryx didinus (Upland Moa)

[another specialist]

Megalapteryx hectori Haast 1886
= Megalapteryx didinus (Owen, 1883)

Megalapteryx benhami Archey 1941
= Megalapteryx didinus (Owen, 1883)

[another specialist]

both classed as now as Upland Moa Megalapteryx didinus




Extinct birds : an attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times : that is, within the last six or seven hundred years : to which are added a few which still exist, but are on the verge of extinction (1907)

[another specialist]

same here



Extinct birds : an attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times : that is, within the last six or seven hundred years : to which are added a few which still exist, but are on the verge of extinction (1907)

[another specialist]

Palaeocasuarius haasti = Megalapteryx didinus
Palaeocasuarius velox = Megalapteryx didinus
Palaeocasuarius elegans = Megalapteryx didinus






Extinct birds : an attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times : that is, within the last six or seven hundred years : to which are added a few which still exist, but are on the verge of extinction (1907)

[another specialist]

Megalapteryx, 2005. Watercolor and gouache on paper, 30" x 40"

www.scottkelleystudio.com/extinct_birds.html

[another specialist]

My own photos taken in the Natural History Museum at Tring - April 30 2009

[RSN]

Preserved foot, Natural History Museum



Head reconstruction by Ville Sinkkonen

dinomaniac.deviantart.com/art/Megalapteryx-didius-Upland-Moa-89270930

[surroundx]

Wood, Jamie R. et al. (2012). High-Resolution Coproecology: Using Coprolites to Reconstruct the Habits and Habitats of New Zealand’s Extinct Upland Moa (Megalapteryx didinus). PLoS ONE 7(6): e40025.

[surroundx]

Wood, Jamie R., Wilmshurst, J. M., Rawlence, N. J., Bonner, K. I., Worthy, Trevor H. et al. (2013). A Megafauna’s Microfauna: Gastrointestinal Parasites of New Zealand’s Extinct Moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes). PLoS ONE 8(2): e57315.

[surroundx]

Anderson, Atholl. (1989). On evidence for the survival of moa in European Fiordland. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 12(supplement): 39-44.

[surroundx]

Wood, Jamie R., Rawlence, Nicolas J., Rogers, Geoffrey M., Austin, Jeremy J., Worthy, Trevor H. and Cooper, Alan. (2008). Coprolite deposits reveal the diet and ecology of the extinct New Zealand megaherbivore moa (Aves, Dinornithiformes). Quaternary Science Reviews 27(27-28): 2593-2602.

[surroundx]

Attard, M. R. G., Wilson, L. A. B., Worthy, T. H., Scofield, P., Johnston, P., Parr, W. C. H. and Wroe, S. (2016). Moa diet fits the bill: virtual reconstruction incorporating mummified remains and prediction of biomechanical performance in avian giants. Proc. R. Soc. B 283: 20152043.

[surroundx]

Worthy, Trevor H. (1993). Fossils of Honeycomb Hill. Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. 56 pp.

[surroundx]

"followed in late 1949 by the discovery in the same valley of evidence that recent Maori visitors—possibly in the post-European period—had encountered and killed a single individual of Megalapteryx didinus, the small forest-dwelling moa."

Source:

Duff, Roger. (1952). Recent Maori occupation of Notornis Valley, Te Anau. The Journal of the Polynesian Society 61(1-2): 90-119.

[surroundx]

Hall-Jones, John. (1960). Rare Fiordland birds. Notornis 8(7): 191-192.

[surroundx]

Trotter, M. M. (1965). Avian remains from North Otago archaeological sites. Notornis 12(3): 176-178.

[surroundx]

Seersholm, Frederik V. et al. (2018). Subsistence practices, past biodiversity, and anthropogenic impacts revealed by New Zealand-wide ancient DNA survey. PNAS. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1803573115 [Supplementary information]

[Sebbe]

Augustus Hamilton’s fossil collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Augustus Hamilton (1853–1913) was a New Zealand ethnologist and naturalist who amassed a significant collection of fossils, mostly of birds, during his career. Today, those fossils are housed in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (NMNZ). While some fossils have been catalogued and integrated into the collection of the NMNZ, a large part remained unsorted and uncatalogued. The present study brings an integrated view of Hamilton’s collection at the NMNZ, highlighting the most significant fossils. In total, there are 3692 specimen lots collected by Hamilton in the NMNZ representing a large sample of taxa and a wide range of locations around Aotearoa New Zealand. Most fossils are of Holocene age and belong to birds. The collection includes type specimens, circa 250 specimen lots belonging to extinct species, and specimens belonging to otherwise poorly represented species in natural history collections. We hope that our study makes Hamilton’s fossils visible and more readily available for future research.

tuhinga.arphahub.com/article/97731/

[Melanie]

Worthy, T.H., M. Bunce, A. Cooper, M.J. Phillips, and R.P. Scofield (2024)
The availability of Megalapterygidae, a family-group name for Megalapteryx, among New Zealand moa
Avian Systematics 2: 65-67

Phylogenomic and morphological data provide strong evidence for the position of Megalapteryx didinus as the sister group to all other moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes). When the name ‘Megalapterygidae’ was coined by Bunce et al. in 2009, it did not meet the requirements of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, 1999) and is therefore unavailable. To remedy this oversight, we describe this taxon and make a family-group name available.