Broad-billed moa

Broad-billed moa; Temporal range: Pleistocene-Holocene
	Restoration
Conservation status
	Extinct
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Infraclass:	Palaeognathae
Order:	†Dinornithiformes
Family:	†Emeidae
Genus:	†Euryapteryx; Haast, 1874
Species:	†E. curtus
Binomial name
	†Euryapteryx curtus; (Owen, 1846)
Synonyms
	List Cela Reichenbach 1853 non Moehring 1758 ; Celeus Bonaparte 1856 non Boie 1831 ; Zelornis Oliver 1949 ; Dinornis curtus Owen, 1846 ; Cela curtus (Owen 1846) Reichenbach, 1850 ; Celeus curtus (Owen 1846) Bonaparte, 1865 ; Anomalopteryx curta (Owen 1846) Lydekker 1891 ; Euryapteryx curtus (Owen 1846) Archey 1941 ; Mesopteryx species α Parker 1895 ; Euryapteryx exilis Hutton, 1897 ; Zelornis exilis (Hutton 1897) Oliver 1949 ; Euryapteryx tane Oliver 1949 ; Dinornis gravis Owen, 1870 ; Pachyornis gravis (Owen 1870) ; Euryapteryx pygmaeus Hutton 1891 non Pachyornis pygmaeus Hutton 1895 ; Emeus gravipes Lydekker, 1891 Euryapteryx gravipes (Lydekker 1891) Oliver 1930 ; Euryapteryx compacta Hutton 1893 ; Emeus crassus Parker 1895 non (Owen 1846) Reichenbach 1853 ; Euryapteryx ponderosa Hamilton 1898 non Hutton 1891 ; Emeus boothi Rothschild 1907 ; Emeus haasti Rothschild 1907 non Palaeocasuarius haasti Rothschild 1907 ; Zelornis haasti (Rothschild 1907) Oliver 1949 ; Euryapteryx haasti (Rothschild 1907) ; Emeus parkeri Rothschild 1907 ; Euryapteryx kuranui Oliver 1930 ; Euryapteryx geranoides Checklist Committee 1990 non Palapteryx geranoides ;

The broad-billed, stout-legged moa^[3] or coastal moa (Euryapteryx curtus) is an extinct species of moa. These moa lived in both the North and the South Islands of New Zealand, and on Stewart Island. Its habitat was in the lowlands (duneland, forest, shrubland, and grassland).^[4] It was a ratite and a member of the Struthioniformes Order. The Struthioniformes are flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. The origin of these birds 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.^[4]

As of 2006, half of all complete or mostly complete moa eggs in museum collections are likely Euryapteryx curtus specimens.^[5] Of the specimens traditionally given the name Euryapteryx gravis, the eggs has an average length of 205mm and width of 143mm, while the group traditionally assigned to the name Euryapteryx curtus had an average length of 122mm and width of 94mm.^[5]

Taxonomy[]

A 2009 genetic study showed that Euryapteryx curtus and Euryapteryx gravis were synonyms.^[6] A 2010 study explained size differences among them as sexual dimorphism.^[7] A 2012 morphological study interpreted them as subspecies instead.^[8]

The cladogram below follows a 2009 analysis by Bunce et al.:^[6]

Dinornithiformes

Megalapteryidae

	Megalapteryx didinus

Dinornithidae

Dinornis

	D. robustus

	D. novaezealandiae

Emeidae

Pachyornis

P. australis

	P. elephantopus

	P. geranoides

Anomalopteryx didiformis

	Emeus crassus

	Euryapteryx curtus

Skull

Footnotes[]

^ Owen 1846
^ 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.
^ "Stout-legged moa | New Zealand Birds Online".
^ ^a ^b Davies 2003, pp. 95–98
^ ^a ^b Gill, B.J. (2006). "A CATALOGUE OF MOA EGGS (AVES: DINORNITHIFORMES)". Records of the Auckland Museum. 43: 55–80. ISSN 1174-9202.
^ ^a ^b Bunce et al. 2009.
^ Gill 2010
^ Worthy & Scofield 2012, p. 87.

References[]

Bunce, Michael; Worthy, Trevor H.; Phillips, Matthew J.; Holdaway, Richard N.; Willerslev, Eske; Haile, James; Shapiro, Beth; Scofield, R. Paul; Drummond, Alexei; Kamp, Peter J. J.; Cooper, Alan (8 December 2009). "The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (49): 20646–20651. doi:10.1073/pnas.0906660106. PMC 2791642. PMID 19923428.
Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003). "Moas". In Hutchins, Michael (ed.). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8: Birds I: Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. ISBN 0-7876-5784-0.
Gill, B. J. (2010). "Regional comparisons of the thickness of moa eggshell fragments (Aves: Dinornithiformes)". Records of the Australian Museum. 62: 115–122. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.62.2010.1535.
Owen, R. (1846). A History of British Fossil Mammals and Birds. London, UK: John Van Voorst.
Worthy, T. H.; Scofield, R. P. (2012). "Twenty-first century advances in knowledge of the biology of moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes): a new morphological analysis and moa diagnoses revised". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 39 (2): 87–153. doi:10.1080/03014223.2012.665060. S2CID 83768608.

External links[]

Unmasking the secrets of the extinct moa.

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[Brands-1] Owen 1846

[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] "Stout-legged moa | New Zealand Birds Online".

[Davies-4] Davies 2003, pp. 95–98

[Gill-5] Gill, B.J. (2006). "A CATALOGUE OF MOA EGGS (AVES: DINORNITHIFORMES)". Records of the Auckland Museum. 43: 55–80. ISSN 1174-9202.

[FOOTNOTEBunceWorthyPhillipsHoldaway2009-6] Bunce et al. 2009.

[7] Gill 2010

[FOOTNOTEWorthyScofield201287-8] Worthy & Scofield 2012, p. 87.

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