1992/09/15 by Alan Cooper, Cecile Mourer‐Chauviré, Geoffrey K. Chambers +3 · 5 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Social Sciences · #Identification and Quantification in Food #Genetic diversity and population structure #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies #Phylogenetic tree #Zoology #Biology #Gene #Genetics
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.89.18.8741
openalex publication_date 1992/09/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
Two groups of flightless ratite birds existed in New Zealand during the Pleistocene: the kiwis and the moas. The latter are now extinct but formerly included 11 species. We have enzymatically amplified and sequenced approximately 400 base pairs of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene from bones and soft tissue remains of four species of moas as well as eight other species of ratite birds and a tinamou. Contrary to expectation, the phylogenetic analysis shows that the kiwis are more closely related to Australian and African ratities than to the moas. Thus, New Zealand probably was colonized twice by ancestors of ratite birds.