Feathered-moa replica requires much assumption

Press, 11 May 1989, Page 13

Feathered-moa replica requires much assumption

As a very small child in 1940, I was taken on a visit to New Zealand’s Centennial Exhibition in Wellington. I can remember very little about it, but one thing I do recall quite clearly was the large feathered replica of a Dinornis moa, standing (I think) very near the main entrance. It was one of the earliest attempts to produce a life-like model of New Zealand’s best known extinct bird; in general stance it was in line with skeletal reconstructions of that period and earlier. Although there are a number of almost complete, or composite, skeletons of the principal moa species no-one is sure of the exact appearance of the living bird.

During last century when the articulation of many moa skeletons was attempted in museums, there was a marked tendency to “elongate” the bird as much as possible — particularly in the case of the tall, leggy Dinornis species. That made them look as tall, and therefore as spectacular as possible. Although articulations were improved somewhat in the midtwentieth century, there was still an inclination to display moas mainly with their necks fairly erect, giving the impression that this was the position in which it was normally carried. Nowadays, it is recognised that a more relaxed position was probably most usual, although there is no doubt that the neck would have been fully extended when a moa was reaching for food — or when it was alarmed. The Dinornis skeleton displayed in the new foyer of Canterbury Museum is a good example of this later type of mounting: it has not proved practicable to alter its stance. But making a fully feathered replica,- and Canterbury Museum’s display department have been doing just. that in

recent months, requires a lot more educated “guesswork” than does the articulation of a skeleton. Just how much flesh would have covered the bones? Areas of muscle attachment are obvious clues, and a lot of inferences can be drawn from the general size and conformation of the skeleton and by comparisons with living birds. A moa such as Euryapteryx (Eury — wide) was clearly much more likely to be built like an Orpington than a leghorn (or if you prefer a native synonym, more like a takahe than a pukeko). Feathering the replica also required some assumptions to be made. There are plenty of moa feathers in existence but most cannot be related to species. Even the few mummified portions of skin and feather, which are known, are not very helpful.. The feathers were clearly typically ratite, soft and "hairy” like those of the moa’s closest relatives, the kiwi and emu — the feathers of a non-flying bird. But the general colour and gradations of shade can only be guessed at, and this also applies to the distribution of feathers over the body. Do the presence of feather pits on the skull indicate that feathers grew well down the beak? Or that the birds

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had a crest? These are the sort of decisions which have to be made. It has been argued that at least one species, known from a mummified leg, was feathered right down to its feet — while some specimens indicate equally clearly that the lower leg was scaly like that of a kiwi. Canterbury Museum’s Euryapteryx, is the result of a lot of research and some broad assumptions — as well as a great deal of technical skills supplied by the museum preparators. It will be on display, along with several others, in the new hail of moas and moa hunters, for 1990. Recently, I discovered that another enthusiast, too, has become involved in “making a moa.” Travellers on State Highway 72, through Alford Forest, are greeted by a wonderful metal moa standing outside the store. Its dimensions were obtained from Canterbury Museum’s Dinornis skeleton, and the result, manufactured in reinforcing steel, is a great credit to its maker. It, too, is to be “fleshed and feathered” and will give passersby an insight into the enormous size of these birds, which once roamed freely through the forests of an area now dominated by farmland.

BEVERLEY McCULLOCH