South Island giant moa

South Island giant moa
Temporal range: Late Holocene
Skeleton, likely of an adult male
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Palaeognathae
Order: Dinornithiformes
Family: Dinornithidae
Genus: Dinornis
Species:
D. robustus
Binomial name
Dinornis robustus
Owen, 1846
Synonyms
List
  • Dinornis ingens var. robustus Owen, 1846
  • Palapteryx robustus (Owen, 1846) Owen, 1851
  • Dinornis maximus Haast, 1869
  • Dinornis altus Owen, 1879
  • Dinornis validus Hutton, 1891
  • Dinornis potens Hutton, 1891
  • Dinornis strenuus Hutton, 1893
  • Dinornis torosus Hutton, 1891
  • Palapteryx plenus Hutton, 1891

The South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus) is an extinct species of moa in the genus Dinornis, known in Māori by the name moa nunui. It was one of the tallest-known bird species to walk the Earth, exceeded in weight only by the heavier but shorter extinct elephant bird of Madagascar.