The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography.

ABSTRACT: The ratite moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) were a speciose group of massive graviportal avian herbivores that dominated the New Zealand (NZ) ecosystem until their extinction approximately 600 years ago. The phylogeny and evolutionary history of this morphologically diverse order has remained controversial since their initial description in 1839. We synthesize mitochondrial phylogenetic information from 263 subfossil moa specimens from across NZ with morphological, ecological, and new geological data to create the first comprehensive phylogeny, taxonomy, and evolutionary timeframe for all of the species of an extinct order. We also present an important new geological/paleogeographical model of late Cenozoic NZ, which suggests that terrestrial biota on the North and South Island landmasses were

SUBMITTER: Bunce M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2791642 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature