Haast's eagle
Extinct species of bird / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Haast's eagle (Hieraaetus moorei) is an extinct species of eagle that lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the pouākai of Māori mythology.[2] It is the largest eagle known to have existed, with an estimated weight of 15 kilograms (33 pounds), compared to the next-largest and extant harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), at up to 9 kg (20 lb).[3] Its massive size is explained as an evolutionary response to the size of its prey—the flightless moa—the largest of which could weigh 230 kg (510 lb).[4] Haast's eagle became extinct around 1445, following the arrival of the Māori, who hunted moa to extinction, introduced the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans), and destroyed large tracts of forest by fire.[5]
Haast's eagle Temporal range: Pleistocene to Late Holocene | |
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Skull at the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Accipitriformes |
Family: | Accipitridae |
Genus: | Hieraaetus |
Species: | †H. moorei |
Binomial name | |
†Hieraaetus moorei (Haast, 1872) | |
Synonyms | |
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