Story: Fossils

Richard Owen and moa

Richard Owen and moa

Richard Owen, an English scientist, was the first to identify bones found in New Zealand as those of a large bird, the moa. In his right hand he holds the first bone fragment sent to him in London in 1839, which he identified as coming from a giant bird. He is standing beside a reconstructed skeleton of the largest moa species (Dinornis giganteus).

Using this item

National Library of New Zealand, General Lending Collection
Reference: Richard Owen, Memoirs on the extinct wingless birds of New Zealand. Vol 2. London: John Van Voorst, 1879, plate XCVII

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Hamish Campbell, 'Fossils - Bird fossils', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/9046/richard-owen-and-moa (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Hamish Campbell, published 12 Jun 2006