A moa walks across a vast flood plain, its feet sinking into the soft mud. Once buried by the next flood, the footprints left behind harden. Millions of years later, a farmhand taking the dogs for a swim on a hot day makes the discovery of a lifetime.
Seven footprints, around 25 cm in diameter, were recently discovered in the bed of the Kye Burn River, near Ranfurly, exposed after summer flooding. Such is the importance of this discovery, they represent the first moa trackway for the South Island and potentially the oldest in Aotearoa New Zealand. Thanks to the hard work of Otago Museum and scientists from the University of Otago’s Geology Department, this ara-moa has been saved from being erased from our biological heritage forever.
Here’s a movie from @KaneFleury showing the Moa Footprint discovery site presently being excavated by the joint @OtagoMuseum @otago team #moa #museums #newzealand pic.twitter.com/CqdwxTl6lQ
— Ian Griffin (@iangriffin) May 9, 2019
Continue reading “Footprints illuminate the Dark Age of moa evolution”