#pachyornis

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable

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Name: Pachyornis

Status: Extinct

First Described: 1891

Described By: Lydekker

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Palaeognathae, Notopalaeognathae, Dinornithiformes, Emeidae

Referred Species: P. elephantopus, P. australis, P. geranoides 

Common Name: Heavy Footed Moa, Crested Moa, & Mantell’s Moa 

My Sixth Favorite Extinct Avialan

We all know about Dinornis - the most famous kind of Moa, a group of extinct Ratites from New Zealand. However, I’ve always been more partial to Pachyornis, its name meaning Thick Bird. This genus is known for having pointed builds and being very heavyset. They lived from about 0.012 million years ago to just 1400 CE, from the Tarantian age of the Pleistocene to the Holocene. They went extinct due to over predation by the Māori People; leading to the death of their main predator species, Haast’s Eagle. They themselves were large herbivores, filling niches typically occupied by large mammals in other locations - eating leaves, seeds, mosses, twigs and woods; they were not immunite parasitism, and coprolites have shown evidence of host specific parasites such as nematodes. The heavy footed moa was 1.8 m tall and weighed 145 kg; living in grasslands, shrublands and dry forests on the South Island of New Zealand. Mantell’s Moa also lived in the shrublands, grasslands, dunelands, and forests, living on both the North and South islands. Finally, the Crested Moa - with characteristic crests known from pits in their skulls - and it lasted very long for Moa species, living in habitats isolated from humans on the South Island in subalpine zones. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachyornis_australis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantell%27s_moa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy-footed_moa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachyornis