Rapid Extinction of the Moas (Aves: Dinornithiformes): Model, Test, and Implications

2000/03/24 by Richard N. Holdaway, Chris Jacomb · 8 citations
Social Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

paper · doi:10.1126/science.287.5461.2250

openalex publication_date 2000/03/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

A Leslie matrix population model supported by carbon-14 dating of early occupation layers lacking moa remains suggests that human hunting and habitat destruction drove the 11 species of moa to extinction less than 100 years after Polynesian settlement of New Zealand. The rapid extinction contrasts with models that envisage several centuries of exploitation.

Citations

• Dating the first New Zealanders: the chronology of Wairau Bar
• The transient village in southern New Zealand
• Dating initial Maori environmental impact in New Zealand
• Testing migration patterns and estimating founding population size in Polynesia by using human mtDNA sequences
• Radiocarbon Calibration and Analysis of Stratigraphy: The OxCal Program

Cited by

• An extremely low-density human population exterminated New Zealand moa
• The timing of the human discovery and colonization of New Zealand
• Ancient DNA reveals extreme egg morphology and nesting behavior in New Zealand’s extinct moa
• Reconstructing the tempo and mode of evolution in an extinct clade of birds with ancient DNA: The giant moas of New Zealand
• Nuclear DNA sequences detect species limits in ancient moa
• Archaeology of New Zealand [wikipedia]
• Dinornis [wikipedia]
• Great American Interchange [wikipedia]