Moa Leg Bone

Moa Leg Bone

This is a leg bone (femur I think) of a Moa, an extinct group of ratites which were endemic to NZ. It is thought that there were nine species of moa, in 6 genera, and that they became extinct shortly after humans arrived in NZ, in around 1400AD. This bone is therefore at least 500 years old. I do not know what species it is from, although a few species can be easily eliminated.

It is a bit over 50cm long. The coin in the photo is a 20 Euro cent piece (diameter 2.2cm). The origin of the bone is not known, it was bought for me at an auction, and given to me one Christmas in a KFC bucket. There is an interesting mark in the middle of the bone, which may be from when the bird was killed. Or may not.

I also have a vertebrae and rib bone from a different moa, which was uncovered in Oamaru, South Canterbury. I keep these in a box, but can\'t dig them out at the moment to take photos. The large bone I keep on a shelf, out of direct sun but exposed to everything else. I\'m not really sure what the best way of preserving it is.

This is really cool. Thanks for sharing the photo and story. It always saddens me that this is the only way that we will ever see a real moa.

Are there any good places to see a recreation of a moa? Does that natural history museum at Zealandia have some recreations of the extinct New Zealand megafauna?

I can't remember if Zealandia had anything like that, but it probably does.

Most of the NZ museums (with natural history collections) have a moa skeleton or two, as well as models, etc. There are good examples at Auckland War Memorial Museum, Te Papa (National Museum in Wellington), Puki Ariki (Museum in New Plymouth), and Canterbury Museum (Christchurch), plus others too probably.

The photos below are from Auckland Museum (first two) and Te Papa (last three). There are some very nice dioramas of extinct birds at Te Papa now, showing a variety of species (moa, laughing owl, adzebill, etc).