Pachyornis

Pachyornis Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Holocene
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
Pachyornis elephantopus Heavy-footed Moa Pachyornis australis Crested Moa Pachyornis geranoides Mantell's Moa Pachyornis new lineage A (undescribed taxon) Pachyornis new lineage B (undescribed taxon)

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?]}

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]

• 
  Restoration of Dinornis giganteus and Pachyornis elephantopus, both from South Island

References

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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