Tagged: ratites

How to make a flightless bird - Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives

Nic Rawlence • May 13, 2019 •

• flight loss,
• Kiwi,
• moa,
• New Zealand,
• ratites

Visit any major museum in Aotearoa New Zealand and you will see a giant moa skeleton on display. The first thing you notice, apart from its enormous size, is the complete lack of wing bones. The answer to how the tūpuna of moa arrived on our shores and subsequently lost their wings has been one of New Zealand’s greatest evolutionary … Read More

Ice ages led to ‘explosive’ diversity in Kiwi species - News

John Kerr • Sep 01, 2016 •

• birds,
• conservation,
• DNA,
• ecology,
• genetics,
• glaciers,
• ice age,
• Kiwi,
• kiwi conservation,
• ratites

Ancient walls of ice separating kiwi populations have left their mark in the DNA of New Zealand’s most iconic species. A new study published this week in PNAS has revealed the enormous impact historic cold snaps had on the evolution of kiwis. Researchers based in Canada, in collaboration with Department of Conservation scientists, examined a database of kiwi DNA across the geographic … Read More