The lesser moa (

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Emeidae) were a family in the

moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refer ...

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Dinornithiformes. About two-thirds of all moa species are in the lesser moa family. The moa were

ratites A ratite () is any of a diverse group of flightless, large, long-necked, and long-legged birds of the infraclass Palaeognathae. Kiwi, the exception, are much smaller and shorter-legged and are the only nocturnal extant ratites. The systematics o ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Ratites are flightless birds with a

sternum The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. Sh ...

without a

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

. They also have a distinctive

palate The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sepa ...

. The origin of the ratites is becoming clearer as it is now believed that early ancestors of these birds were able to fly and flew to the southern areas that they have been found in.

Species

The currently recognised genera and species are: * Genus '' Anomalopteryx'' **

Bush moa The bush moa, little bush moa, or lesser moa (''Anomalopteryx didiformis'') is an Extinction, extinct species of moa from the family Lesser moa, Emeidae (lesser moa). Description It was the smallest known species of moa, only slightly taller ...

, ''Anomalopteryx didiformis'' (

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, New Zealand) * Genus '' Emeus'' **

Eastern moa The eastern moa (''Emeus crassus'') is an extinct species of moa. When the first specimens were originally described by Richard Owen, they were placed within the genus ''Dinornis'' as three different species, but, was later split off into their ...

, ''Emeus crassus'' (South Island, New Zealand) * Genus ''

Euryapteryx The broad-billed, stout-legged moa or coastal moa (''Euryapteryx curtus'') is an extinct species of moa. These moa lived in both the North Island, North and the South Island, South Islands of New Zealand, and on Stewart Island. Its habitat was ...

'' ** Broad-billed moa, ''Euryapteryx curtus'' (North and South Island, New Zealand) * Genus ''

Pachyornis ''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 (biology), order Struthioniformes. The Struthioniformes are flightless birds with a sternum without a k ...

'' **

Heavy-footed moa The heavy-footed moa (''Pachyornis elephantopus'') is a species of moa from the lesser moa family. The heavy-footed moa was widespread only in the South Island of New Zealand, and its habitat was the lowlands (shrublands, dunelands, grasslands, ...

, ''Pachyornis elephantopus'' (South Island, New Zealand) **

Mantell's moa Mantell's moa (''Pachyornis geranoides'') also known as Mappin's moa is an extinct species of moa from the North Island of New Zealand. Its habitat was the lowlands (shrublands, grasslands, dunelands, and forests). The moa were ratites, flight ...

, ''Pachyornis geranoides'' (North Island, New Zealand) ** Crested moa, ''Pachyornis australis'' (South Island, New Zealand)

Notes

References

Holocene extinctions Ratites Bird genera Extinct birds of New Zealand Extinct flightless birds Higher-level bird taxa restricted to New Zealand Late Quaternary prehistoric birds Species made extinct by human activities {{NewZealand-stub