Importantly, we provide evidence that moa and prehistoric kakapo consumed ectomycorrhizal fungi, suggesting these birds played a role in dispersing fungi that are key to NZ's natural forest ecosystems. We also provide the first DNA-based evidence that moa frequently supplemented their broad diets ...
Importance of release of birds For the Māori people, the release of these birds into the valley holds immense importance. Cassidy, reflecting on the event, said, “incredibly significant – for me personally, being able to do it on my own land, just remembering and thinking about the seve...
Neil Ah, so of course you’ve heard of the dodo? Sam Yes, dodos were large, metre-high birds which died out in the 1600s after being hunted to extinction by humans. Neil That’s right. Dodos couldn’t fly and weren’t very cl...
Its dentition is not exceptional, suggesting a gen- eralized arthropod diet, but it seems likely, given its size, that this would have been supplemented by vertebrate prey (other lizards, nestling birds) and seasonally by fruit, as has been documented in New Caledonian giant geckos9,35. ...
The forelimb-specific gene tbx5 is highly conserved and essential for the development of forelimbs in zebrafish, mice, and humans. Amongst birds, a single order, Dinornithiformes, comprising the extinct wingless moa of New Zealand, are unique in having no skeletal evidence of forelimb-like struc...
Its dentition is not exceptional, suggesting a gen- eralized arthropod diet, but it seems likely, given its size, that this would have been supplemented by vertebrate prey (other lizards, nestling birds) and seasonally by fruit, as has been documented in New Caledonian giant geckos9,35. ...
1. Introduction The dromornithids were large flightless birds, collectively known as 'mihirungs', whose fossils are a distinctive component of the Cenozoic avifauna of Australia, and are sometimes comparatively abundant in the Australian Neogene fossil record [1,2]. The greatest diversity of the ...