MOA 



579 



and Moas were derived from an Asiatic stock of Ratite birds ; but 

 Capt. Hutton objects to this view, and suggests that the Moas are 

 descended from volant birds, allied to the TlNAMOUS, which inhabited 

 New Zealand during the Eocene. The Moas are thus regarded as 

 the ancestral stock of all the Australasian Ratitaz, while those of Asia 

 and America are supposed to have had a totally independent origin. 

 There are, however, many objections to this view ; one of the most 

 obvious being the absence of any evidence of the presumed Tinamou- 

 like Eocene birds. 1 



Although, as already mentioned, there is some uncertainty as to 

 the actual number of species of Moas, yet there is no doubt that the 



Fig. 1. EIGHT TIBIA of Euryapteryx gravis (A), 1/6, of Dinornis gracilis (B), 1/8, and Megalapteryx 



tenuipes (C), 1/8. Anterior view. 

 (From Lydekker's ' Catalogue of Fossil Birds in the British Museum.') 



number was large. The Family may be divided into at least 5 

 genera, of which the first and last are very widely separated, 

 although connected to a certain extent by the intermediate forms." 2 

 The typical genus Dinwnis, Owen, includes the tallest of the 

 Moas, and is characterized by the length and slenderness of the 



1 It is not easy to reconcile Capt. Hutton's views as to the impossibility of an 

 immigration of flightless birds having taken place into New Zealand, while he 

 admits that emigrations must have happened. 



2 Capt. Hutton adopts 7 genera (one of which he subdivides into two sub- 

 genera), exclusive of one of those noticed below. 



