What is the difference between a moa and a kiwi

The South American tinamous, and the extinct NZ moa. A new study has put even more genetic distance between the extinct moa and their old bush mates, the New Zealand kiwi.

Rather, new research led by Toronto-based New Zealand scientist Professor Allan Baker suggests ther giant birds were more closely related to a flying South American bird still alive today than our national icon. The study, published online in Molecular Biology and Evolution , used DNA to analyse family ties between a range of ratites, or flightless birds.

The South American tinamous, one of the world's most ancient living groups of bird, can fly and are not categorised as ratites, but are considered close relatives because of the shared structure of their palate bones. The study - conducted by the University of Otago and Harvard University, and published in Science - analysed DNA from a number of flightless birds, or ratites. The work provided researchers with greater insight into the origins of New Zealand's iconic birds - great and little spotted kiwi, Okarito kiwi and the extinct little bush moa.

Dr Paul Gardner, a co-author of the study from Otago's Department of Biochemistry, believes this research supports the idea that moa and kiwi were once able to fly, prior to the extinction of dinosaurs. It supports the hypothesis that the ancestral moa flew here, while the ancestral kiwi, which is related to the emu, may have walked, or indeed flown from the likes of Australia or Madagascar over the ancient Gondwanan continent," he said.

Dr Michael Knapp from the Department of Anatomy at the University of Otago explained, "within the group of ratites, the ability to fly has been lost at least three times independently". Researchers then looked at these specific genomes to see if the events "are caused by similar processes". The Conservation Minister has announced a new plan to reverse the decline of kiwi at a release of four birds on Mt Taranaki today. New Zealand RSS.

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