HuTTON.— 0;i the Moas of Ncio Zealand. 147 



?va\'BrevpS''*'T.°^ Australian mammals into New Zealand 

 I l^u^ ^ ^- , ^^^ ^""'^^ ^°^'"'er period, when New Zealand 

 s retched towards North Australil, a portion of aifd_ii 

 cludnag, pei^iaps Norfolk Island-inhabited by Ratit^ mav 



u^ed t'o No tff " 'T' ?"^ .^^^^^^^^^' -d -bseq'e™!^ 

 umted to North Australia, when the Ratita^ would spread into 



Austraha and New Guinea. If this supposition is^acorrec? 



one the great differentiation that has taken place n the b rds 



since their migration shows that it must have been not later 



than the Eocene period. According to Mr. De Vis a fern i- 



belonging to oiie of the Dinornithid^^has been lately found m 



the Darling Downs, in Queensland r:^ and if this is coriect^t 



would niiply that there had also been a second mi|Xn- to 



Australia from New Zealand in the older Pliocene But I 



cannot agree with Mr. De Vis that Dromornis was more 



closely related to the moas than to the emu. This mieSion 



has been settled by Sir E. Owen from an examinatfon Soronly 



of the femur, but also of the tibia and pelvis. The pohits o^ 



XSrnnorrn\'''""r'-" ^^^^^ ^"— are ^aptl^e 

 onl> , and cannot be taken to prove affinity. If the absence of 



stSv H °T'" ^" '^'' ^^^^^^' ^^°^'« relationship mo?e 



wifh t 7p 1 f Vf""- T' '^''^''^'^ ^'^'^^ to c^ass the owls 



\Mth the kiwis instead of with the hawks 



. We may conclude, therefore, that the ancestors of the moas 

 originated m New Zealand in the Eocene period althZh 

 ^-e have as yet no certain evidence of thein before the oldt 



Asia, and Afuca, mcludmg yEpyornis, have had a senaratP 

 origin from those of Australasia.' The ancestor^of J^mS 

 must have passed into Madagascar in the Eocene .S^SfoJ 

 no Miocene mammals are found there, and it is os^'^ e tha 

 they may be descended from swimming-birds throu. Gas or 

 nis, Dasorms, Megalornis, and Diatryma. ^ 



Development of the Moas in Neio Zealand. 



evidl'JitltTpT^i*^' '""^f originated in New Zealand, it is 

 evident that the land was a favourable one, for they multinlied 

 enormously, and spread from one end to he other Z doubt 

 during a time when both Islands were connected. Bones have 

 been found from the Bay of Islands in the nor h to Wainana 



o,250ft. m the mountams of Otago.f The number of indivi- 

 Geoi:£;f;.'S^.g:^Vls'tM'^1.58^- ''•' ^-^ ^^'^-^ge, Records of 



-d vol. ..i., p. 8.) Jo.g to a ^ S^/l-?pIS^' j^S:;P; SS 



