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Moa are traditionally placed in the ratite group. [4] However, genetic studies have found that their closest relatives are the flighted South American tinamous, once considered a sister group to ratites. [9] The nine species of moa were the only wingless birds, lacking even the vestigial wings that all other ratites have
Ratites. Temporal range: Paleocene-Holocene 56–0 ... dominant moa of far north and far south of New Zealand's South Island Dromaiidae. Dromaius. Name
[citation needed] Ratites are a polyphyletic group; tinamous fall within them, and are the sister group of the extinct moa. [ 6 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] This implies that flightlessness is a trait that evolved independently multiple times in different ratite lineages.
The moa were large, flightless birds with a sternum, but without a keel: ratites. [a]They also had a distinctive jaw and palate.The origin of these birds is becoming clearer, and it is now believed that early ancestors of these birds were able to fly and flew to the southern areas in which they have been found.
Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins. Joseph E. Trumpey, Chief Scientific Illustrator (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 95–102. ISBN 0-7876-5784-0. Stephenson, Brent (2009-01-05). "New Zealand Recognised Bird Names (NZRBN) database". New Zealand: Ornithological Society of New Zealand.
The lesser moa [a] (family Emeidae) were a family in the moa order Dinornithiformes. About two-thirds of all moa species are in the lesser moa family. [2] The moa were ratites from New Zealand. Ratites are flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate.
The tinamou family has been shown to be monophyletic. [9] Phylogenomic studies have placed it as the sister group to extant Australasian and Oceanian ratites (i.e. the cassowaries, emus, and kiwis), thus putting it well within the ratite phylogenetic tree, with the South American rheas and African ostriches as successive outgroups.
The North Island giant moa (Dinornis novaezealandiae) is an extinct moa in the genus Dinornis, known in Māori as kuranui. [4] Even though it might have walked with a lowered posture, standing upright, it would have been the tallest bird ever to exist, with a height estimated up to 3.6 metres (12 ft).