Megalapteryx didinus

The upland moa or moa pukepuke (Māori), is an extinct species of moa that was endemic to New Zealand. Richard Owen described the species in 1883. It belongs to the ratites, a group of predominantly flightless birds characterized by a sternum lacking a keel. Megalapteryx didinus is known from well preserved specimens, several of which retain impressions of soft tissues. The upland moa inhabited the South Island, where it was primarily associated with alpine and subalpine environments. Its diet consisted mainly of flowers, herbs and other vegetation. Following the arrival of the Māori, the species was hunted and became extinct around 1500 CE. It was the last known surviving species of moa.

Megalapteryx didinus

Te Papa - Museum of New Zealand · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
MegalapteryxPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Theropoda

Time the record covers

At most 2.6 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 2.58 Mya and 0 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Pliocene — about 0 of 5 occurrencesPleistocene — about 2 of 5 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 3 of 5 occurrences2.7–2.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.6–2.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.5–2.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.4–2.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.3–2.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.2–2.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.1–2.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.0–1.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.8–1.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.7–1.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.6–1.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.5–1.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.4–1.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.3–1.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.2–1.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.1–1.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.0–924 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences924 ka–821 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences821 ka–719 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences719 ka–616 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences616 ka–513 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences513 ka–411 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences411 ka–308 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences308 ka–205 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences205 ka–103 ka Mya — about 0.2 occurrences103 ka–0 Mya — about 4 occurrences3.08 Mya0 Mya

5 occurrences of Megalapteryx didinus on record, most of them in the Holocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

5 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Megalapteryx didinus and its relatives

Holocene

Where Megalapteryx didinus and its relatives were recorded in the Holocene.

Found in the same rock

49 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 5 sites for Megalapteryx didinus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

3 references

Each of the 5 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Megalapteryx didinus

Credit
Te Papa - Museum of New Zealand
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Megalapteryx didinus · NHMUK:PAL:PV A 16

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMegalapteryx through timeFormations of the HoloceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Lydekker 1891)