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Extinct genus of birds From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pachyornis is an extinct genus of ratites from New Zealand which belonged to the moa family. Like all ratites it was a member of the order Struthioniformes. The Struthioniformes are flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate.[1] This genus contains three species,[1] and are part of the Anomalopteryginae or lesser moa subfamily. Pachyornis moa were the stoutest and most heavy-legged genus of the family, the most notable species being Pachyornis elephantopus - the heavy-footed moa. They were generally similar to the eastern moa or the broad-billed moa of the genus Euryapteryx, but differed in having a pointed bill and being more heavyset in general. At least one species (P. australis) is assumed to have had a crest of long feathers on its head.[2] The species became rapidly extinct following human colonization of New Zealand, with the possible exception of P. australis, which may have already been extinct by then - although the most recent moa skeleton ever described is a partial skeleton of this species, radiocarbon dated to between 1396 and 1442. [unreliable source?]
Pachyornis Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Holocene | |
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P. elephantopus skeleton photographed by Roger Fenton | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
Order: | †Dinornithiformes |
Family: | †Emeidae |
Genus: | †Pachyornis (Lydekker, 1891) |
Species | |
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Two new genetic lineages, which may eventually be described as new species, are now known to have existed, one each from New Zealand's North and South Island.[3]
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