Three Species No Moa? Fossil DNA analysis yields surprise
By Sid Perkins
Analyses of genetic material from the fossils of large flightless birds called moas suggest that three types of the extinct birds may not be separate species after all.
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Moas weren’t merely flightless; they’re the only known birds with no wings whatsoever. The creatures, whose weight ranged from that of a large turkey to that of a small cow, lived exclusively in New Zealand and were hunted to extinction soon after people permanently settled on the islands around 1310.