South Island giant moa
The South Island giant moa is a member of the moa family. It was a ratite and a member of the order Dinornithiformes. The Dinornithiformes 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 in which they have been found.
The South Island giant moa was the biggest of them all. Adult females stood up to 2 metres high at the back, and could reach foliage up to 3.6 metres off the ground, making them the tallest bird species known.
It lived in the South Island of New Zealand, and its habitat was the lowlands.
Along with other members of the moa family, the South Island giant moa went extinct due to predation from humans in the centuries following human colonization.Footnotes
