Ancient DNA Provides New Insights into the Evolutionary History of New Zealand's Extinct Giant Eagle

Prior to human settlement 700 years ago New Zealand had no terrestrial mammals—apart from three species of bats—instead, approximately 250 avian species dominated the ecosystem. At the top of the food chain was the extinct Haast's eagle, Harpagornis moorei. H. moorei (10–15 kg; 2–3 m wingspan) was 30%–40% heavier than the largest extant eagle (the harpy eagle, Harpia harpyja), and hunted moa up to 15 times its weight. In a dramatic example of morphological plasticity and rapid size increase, we show that the H. moorei was very closely related to one of the world's smallest extant eagles, which is one-tenth its mass. This spectacular evolutionary change illustrates the potential speed of size alteration within lineages of vertebrates, especially in island ecosystems

More than one way of being a moa: differences in leg bone robustness map divergent evolutionary trajectories in Dinornithidae and Emeidae (Dinornithiformes).

The extinct moa of New Zealand included three families (Megalapterygidae; Dinornithidae; Emeidae) of flightless palaeognath bird, ranging in mass from 200 kg. They are perceived to have evolved extremely robust leg bones, yet current estimates of body mass have very wide confidence intervals. Without reliable estimators of mass, the extent to which dinornithid and emeid hindlimbs were more robust than modern species remains unclear. Using the convex hull volumetric-based method on CT-scanned skeletons, we estimate the mass of a female Dinornis robustus (Dinornithidae) at 196 kg (range 155-245 kg) and of a female Pachyornis australis (Emeidae) as 50 kg (range 33-68 kg). Finite element analysis of CT-scanned femora and tibiotarsi of two moa and six species of modern palaeognath showed that P. australis experienced the lowest values for stress under all loading conditions, confirming it to be highly robust. In contrast, stress values in the femur of D. robustus were similar to those of modern flightless birds, whereas the tibiotarsus experienced the highest level of stress of any palaeognath. We consider that these two families of Dinornithiformes diverged in their biomechanical responses to selection for robustness and mobility, and exaggerated hindlimb strength was not the only successful evolutionary pathway

Systematics and palaeobiology of Haast's eagle (Harpagornis moorei Haast, 1872) (Aves: Accipitridae)

A phylogenetic analysis of the family Accipitridae was based on 188 osteological characters for 44 living genera, plus Haast's Eagle (Harpagornis moorei Haast, 1872), a large fossil species from the New Zealand Quaternary. Haast's Eagle is sister group to the Aquila eagles, which are themselves close to forest eagles of the genus Spizaetus. Most major groups recognised before were present, but some new groupings were revealed. Haast's Eagle is represented by copious material from over 40 sites, with more than 60 individuals. One 99% intact skeleton is known. A second nominal species (Hatpagornis assimilis Haast, 1874) is a junior synonym of H. moorei, and possibly represents the smaller male. The eagle's distribution did not match major environmental patterns, but appears to have been associated with a group of species of moas, Dinornithiformes. The eagle's distribution apparently changed with the climatic amelioration at the end of the Otiran glaciation, when it apparently retreated from northern and western areas as these became clothed in dense, wet forest. In the Holocene, it was most abundant in the east and south of the South Island, where there was a mosaic vegetation pattern of drier forest and shrublands. It was rare, or absent from inland and northern North Island districts during the Holocene. Sites in caves represent pit traps that caught eagles that entered to take live prey, probably large ground birds. Swamps may have trapped eagles that were attacking trapped moas and other birds, but the evidence is equivocal and specimens may represent natural attrition from a population. However, claw marks on 10% of moa pelves from birds in the 80-100 kg weight range in Canterbury Museum collections provide strong support for the predation hypothesis. The distribution of the eagle and its major potential prey species also support an hypothesis of an active predator rather than an obligate carrion eater. Ecomorphological analysis also supports the eagle's role as being a predator. Various multivariate statistical procedures consistently result in Haast's Eagle clustering with large forest eagles that use flapping flight, rather than with gliding eagles or vultures. This does not support the carrion feeder hypothesis. The eagle's wing proportions also suggest that it flapped rather than glided. There was some support for the two sexes having different flight patterns, and possibly different preferred prey. Haast's Eagle was the major predator in a mammal-free environment. Although phylogenetically an aquilin eagle, Haast's eagle had evolved into the largest, seemingly most powerful, forest and forest margin bird of prey known. The mosaic of features in this species illustrates the extreme plasticity, within narrow functional/historical limits, that characterises the Accipitridae

The late quaternary avifauna

http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/2717657

Evolution of New Zealand and its vertebrates

http://www.nhbs.com/evolution_and_biogeography_of_australasian_vertebrates_tefno_149900.htm

Molecular and morphological analyses of avian eggshell excavated from a late thirteenth century earth oven

Using ancient DNA (aDNA) extracted from eggshell of the extinct moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) we determined the species composition and number of eggs found in a late thirteenth century earth oven feature at Wairau Bar (South Island, New Zealand) - one of New Zealand's most significant archaeological sites. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA signatures confirmed this oven feature contained fragments of at least 31 moa eggs, representing three moa genera: Emeus; Euryapteryx; Dinornis. We demonstrate through the genetic identification of 127 moa eggshell fragments that thickness is an unreliable character for species assignment. We also present a protocol for assessing the preservation likelihood of DNA in burnt eggshell. This is useful because eggshell fragments found in archaeological contexts have often been thermally modified, and heat significantly increases DNA fragmentation. Eggshell is widely used in radiocarbon dating and stable isotope research, this study showcases how aDNA can also add to our knowledge of eggshell in both archaeological and palaeoecological contexts

Data from: Ancient DNA microsatellite analyses of the extinct New Zealand giant moa (Dinornis robustus) identify relatives within a single fossil site

By analysing ancient DNA (aDNA) from 74 14C-dated individuals of the extinct South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus) of New Zealand, we identified four dyads of closely related adult females. Although our total sample included bones from four fossil deposits located within a 10 km radius, these eight individuals had all been excavated from the same locality. Indications of kinship were based on high pairwise genetic relatedness (rXY) in six microsatellite markers genotyped from aDNA, coupled with overlapping radiocarbon ages. The observed rXY values in the four dyads exceeded a conservative cutoff value for potential relatives obtained from simulated data. In three of the four dyads, the kinship was further supported by observing shared and rare mitochondrial haplotypes. Simulations demonstrated that the proportion of observed dyads above the cutoff value was at least 20 times higher than expected in a randomly mating population with temporal sampling, also when introducing population structure in the simulations. We conclude that the results must reflect social structure in the moa population and we discuss the implications for future aDNA research