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New Zealand's moa were exterminated by an extremely low-density

human population
Date: November 7, 2014

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Source: University of Otago

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Summary: A new study suggests that the flightless birds named moa were
completely extinct by the time New Zealand's human population had
grown to two and half thousand people at most.

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Related Topics
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This is a restoration of an upland moa, Megalapteryx didinus. A new study
suggests that the flightless birds named moa were completely extinct ...
[show more]
Credit: George Edward Lodge

[Click to enlarge image]

new study suggests that the flightless birds named moa were
completely extinct by the time New Zealand's human population had
grown to two and half thousand people at most.

The new findings, which appear in the journal Nature

Communications, incorporate results of research by
international teams involved in two major projects led
by Professor Richard Holdaway (Palaecol Research Ltd
and University of Canterbury) and Mr Chris Jacomb
(University of Otago), respectively.

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The researchers calculate that the Polynesians whose
activities caused moa extinction in little more than a
Egg (biology)
century had amongst the lowest human population
Black Rhinoceros
densities on record. They found that during the peak
period of moa hunting, there were fewer than 1500
Polynesian settlers in New Zealand, or about 1 person
per 100 square kilometres, one of the lowest population densities recorded for any preindustrial society.

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Mar. 19, 2014 A study strengthens the case for

human involvement in the disappearance of New
Zealand's iconic megaherbivore, the moa -- a distant
relative of the Australian Emu. All nine species of
New ... full story

Moa's Ark: Why the Female

Giant Moa Was About Twice
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Apr. 9, 2013 The evolutionary
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size between male and female giant
moa -- the extinct giant birds of New
Zealand -- has been revealed for the
first ... full story

Giant Moa Had Climate

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Aug. 3, 2012 An international
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They found that the human population could have reached about 2500 by the time moa
went extinct. For several decades before then moa would have been rare luxuries.
Estimates of the human population during the moa hunting period are more sensitive to
how long it took to exterminate the birds through hunting and habitat destruction than
to the size of the founding population.
To better define the critical period of moa hunting, the research was aimed at "bookending" the moa hunter period with new estimates for when people started eating moa,
and when there were no more moa to eat.

Ancient Birds, New Research

Finds
Jan. 26, 2010 An abundance of
food and lack of predators following the extinction of
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... full story
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Starting with the latest estimate for a founding population of about 400 people
(including 170-230 women), and applying population growth rates in the range achieved
by past and present populations, the researchers modelled the human population size
through the moa hunter period and beyond. When moa and seals were still available,
the better diet enjoyed by the settlers likely fuelled higher population growth, and the
analyses took this into account.
The first "book-end" -- first evidence for moa hunting -- was set by statistical analyses
of 93 new high-precision radiocarbon dates on genetically identified moa eggshell
pieces. These had been excavated from first settlement era archaeological sites in the
eastern South Island, and showed that moa were still breeding nearby.
Chris Jacomb explains: "The analyses showed that the sites were all first occupied -and the people began eating moa -- after the major Kaharoa eruption of Mt Tarawera of
about 1314 CE."
Ash from this eruption is an important time marker because no uncontested
archaeological evidence for settlement has ever been found beneath it, Mr Jacomb
says.
The other "book-end" was derived from statistical analyses of 270 high-precision
radiocarbon dates on moa from non-archaeological sites. Analysis of 210 of the ages
showed that moa were exterminated first in the more accessible eastern lowlands of
the South Island, at the end of the 14th century, just 70-80 years after the first
evidence for moa consumption.
Analysis of all 270 dates, on all South Island moa species from throughout the South
Island, showed that moa survived for only about another 20 years after that.
Their total extinction most probably occurred within a decade either side of 1425 CE,
barely a century after the earliest well-dated site, at Wairau Bar near Blenheim, was
settled by people from tropical East Polynesia. The last known birds lived in the
mountains of north-west Nelson. Professor Holdaway adds that "the results provide
further support for the rapid extinction model for moa that Chris Jacomb and I
published 14 years ago in [the US journal] Science."
The researchers note that it is often suggested that people could not have caused the
extinction of megafauna such as the mammoths and giant sloths of North America and
the giant marsupials of Australia, because the human populations when the

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extinctions happened were too small.

Prof Holdaway and Mr Jacomb say that the extinction of the New Zealand terrestrial
megafauna of moa, giant eagle, and giant geese, accomplished by the direct and
indirect activities of a very low-density human population, shows that population size
can no longer be used as an argument against human involvement in extinctions
elsewhere.

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Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by University of Otago. Note:
Materials may be edited for content and length.

Mosquitofish Genitalia Change Rapidly Due to

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Journal Reference:

Tricky Take-Off Kept Pterodactyls Grounded

1. Richard N. Holdaway, Morten E. Allentoft, Christopher Jacomb, Charlotte L.

Oskam, Nancy R. Beavan, Michael Bunce. An extremely low-density human
population exterminated New Zealand moa. Nature Communications, 2014; 5:
5436 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6436

Genesis of Genitalia: We Have One. Lizards Have

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Cite This Page:

Taking a Deeper Look at 'Ancient Wing'

MLA

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Chicago

University of Otago. "New Zealand's moa were exterminated by an extremely lowdensity human population." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 November 2014.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141107091656.htm>.

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