The ratite moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) were a speciose group of massive graviportal avian herbivores that dominated the New Zealand (NZ) ecosystem until their extinction ≈600 years ago. The phylogeny and evolutionary history of this morphologically diverse order has remained controversial since their initial description in 1839. We synthesize mitochondrial phylogenetic information from 263 subfossil moa specimens from across NZ with morphological, ecological, and new geological data to create the first comprehensive phylogeny, taxonomy, and evolutionary timeframe for all of the species of an extinct order. We also present an important new geological/paleogeographical model of late Cenozoic NZ, which suggests that terrestrial biota on the North and South Island landmasses were isolated for most of the past 20-30 Ma. The data reveal that the patterns of genetic diversity within and between differentmoaclades reflect a complex history following a major marine transgression in the Oligocene, affected by marine barriers, tectonic activity, and glacial cycles. Surprisingly, the remarkable morphological radiation of moa appears to have occurred much more recently than previous early Miocene (ca. 15 Ma) estimates, and was coincident with the accelerated uplift of the Southern Alps just ca. 5-8.5 Ma. Together with recent fossil evidence, these data suggest that the recent evolutionary history of nearly all of the iconic NZ terrestrial biota occurred principally on just the South Island.
Bunce, M., Ancient DNA Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University, Perth, WA 6150, Australia; Worthy, T.H., Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Phillips, M.J., Centre for Macroevolution and Macroecology, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia; Holdaway, R.N., Palaecol Research Ltd., School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand; Willerslev, E., Centre for Ancient Genetics, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Haile, J., Centre for Ancient Genetics, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX13PS, United Kingdom; Shapiro, B., Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX13PS, United Kingdom, Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States; Scofield, R.P., Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch 8013, New Zealand; Drummond, A., Bioinformatics Institute, Department of Computer Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1020, New Zealand; Kamp, P.J.J., Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand; Cooper, A., Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Recommended Citation:
Bunce M.,Worthy T.H.,Phillips M.J.,et al. The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,2009-01-01,106(49)