Moa fossil footprints found in New Zealand river (stuff.co.nz)

54 points by oska 7y ago ↗ HN

7 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 38.3 ms ] thread

Wow that fossil is huge! And so well preserved... What a cool find.

It is amazing that it isn't move worn from water running over it. It looks as distinct as if the bird just made the prints a second ago.

guidedlight 7y ago ↗

The article says the prints were likely exposed from land movement about 6 months ago. Given NZ’s landscape is always changing this seems a likely explanation.

nicksantamaria 7y ago ↗

These birds were huge. There’s a statue of one in Queenstown - worth a look if you are there. https://www.google.com/search?q=moa+queenstown&rlz=1CDGOYI_e...

cheyne_nz 7y ago ↗

There is around 2 dozen moa skeletons on display in the Dunedin museum with a variety of subspecies that are extremely varied. Also well worth a look

lostlogin 7y ago ↗

It’s worth looking up the Haast’s eagle which preyed on moa. That was the most awesome of eagles at 15kgs and a wingspan of up to 3m.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haast%27s_eagle

lostlogin 7y ago ↗

There are recorded interviews with a person who saw one. It was one of the smaller varieties, but still pretty amazing that it was so recent. It makes you wonder which of the soon-to-be-extinct creatures we will be describing in the future.

https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue...