‘Significant’find of moa bones
PA Dunedin A skeleton found in the Dart Valley, a few kilometres north of Glenorchy. at the head of Lake Wakatipu, may prove to be a ver significant find. Mr Brian Ahern, a senior ranger for the Mount Aspiring National Park Board based at Glenorchv, said the bones still had to be identified but it seemed they were from a dinornis robustus or a dinornis maximus The dinornis was one of the largest and earliest species of moa and was believed to have become extinct about 5000 vears ago. It was unusual to find the bones of a Dinornis
moa so far inland because the bones were iui-ysuch good condition it was ; .DOSy sible that they weretmore recent than 5000 years?. '-. " “We will have to wait for the results of the car-bon-dating. but this could be a very significant find.” said Mr Ahern. “We believe this is the fur-thest-inland recovery of Dinornis bones." Mr Ahern said the bird or birds would have been about 3m tall. Moa bones had also been found in the Rees Valley and Beansburn Valley but the Rees bones were smaller and were probably from the bush moa.
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Press, 2 April 1980, Page 15
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196‘Significant’find of moa bones Press, 2 April 1980, Page 15
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