Possible Significance Of Moa Bone Discovery

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 3, 5 January 1937, Page 8

Possible Significance Of Moa Bone Discovery

FURTHER EXPERT EXAMINATION

The recent discovery of a moa bone on the coastline of Hawke’s Bay made by Dr. K. E. Crompton, of Havelock North, has gained significance from the fact that the finder may have uncovered something of New Zealand’s geological history of which knowledge is very scanty, states a Napier correspondent. The bone is considered to be a piece of a moa’s leg, and its fossilised condition, according to Dr. Crompton, suggests that it is at least 1,000,000 years old.

Dr. Crompton said to-day that he intended to take the bone to the Science Congress in Auckland this month, when the authorities present would be asked to examine it with a view to determining its value iu a geological sense. “11 it is proved to be a moa’s leg its geological value cannot be too strongly stressed,” he said. He had yet to determine the character of the stratum iu which it was discovered, and if it was proved that the fossil was indeed portion of a moa’s leg its condition might throw light on New Zealand’s earliest geological history. Dr. Crompton has not divulged tho exact locality where the fossil was found, as he does not wish it to be disturbed before completing his investigations. He has stated, however, that the spot is on the coastline about 10U miles from Napier.