Pachyornis
| Pachyornis Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Holocene
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| P. elephantopus skeleton photographed by Roger Fenton | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
| Order: | †Dinornithiformes |
| Family: | †Emeidae |
| Genus: | †Pachyornis (Lydekker, 1891) |
| Species | |
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Pachyornis is an
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. 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?
]
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.[2]
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Restoration ofPachyornis elephantopus, both from South Island
References
- ^ ISBN 0-7876-5784-0.
- PMID 15928096.
Bibliography
- Lydekker, Richard (2006) [1891]. "Genus Pachyornis". Catalogue of the Fossil Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). London, UK: Adamant Media Corporation. p. 318. ISBN 0-543-95778-0.
- Worthy, Trevor H. (2005). "Rediscovery of the types of Dinornis curtus Owen and Palapteryx geranoides Owen, with a new synonymy (Aves: Dinornithiformes)" (PDF). Tuhinga (16): 33–43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
External links
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