恐鳥

恐鳥曾經係世界上最大隻嘅雀之一，同馬達加斯加嘅象鳥、非洲嘅鴕鳥一樣，都係屬於平胸鳥類（即係指自泛古陸開始遺留到而家嘅一類唔識飛嘅雀）。喺11種恐鳥中，就以巨型恐鳥（Dinornis robustus 同 Dinornis novaezelandiae）最大隻，身高甚至可達4米，重約 250 公斤，佢係紐西蘭嘅獨有品種。但喺白人殖民者（毛利人）到咗紐西蘭之後，就已經絕種。

How to read a taxobox

恐鳥
化石年代：中新世至公元1500年

恐鳥

瀕危指標

絕種

物種分類

界	動物界
門	脊索動物門
綱	鳥綱
Superorder:	古顎總目（Paleognathae）
目	鴕形目（Struthioniformes）
科	†恐鳥科Dinornithidae Bonaparte，1853年

Genera

†Anomalopteryx (bush moa)
†Euryapteryx
†高地恐鳥(Megalapteryx)
†Dinornis (giant moa)
†Emeus
†Pachyornis

特徵

高地恐鳥嘅腳(自然歷史博物館)^[1]

恐鳥係一種完全冇翼嘅雀，行動主要靠強而有力嘅大髀。羽毛呈褐色，同奇異鳥差唔多。有一條好長嘅頸，就好似雀鳥中嘅長頸鹿咁。不過一般情況下，佢哋都係將條頸呈水平橫向行走，只係間中寸條頸向上伸直望嘢。每種恐鳥無論喺體型上抑或咀嘅形狀上都各有不同，咁係為咗適應森林裏面唔同嘅生存模式。

天敵

俾哈斯特鷹追殺嘅恐鳥

喺毛利人嚟到紐西蘭之前，哈斯特鷹相信係恐鳥最主要嘅捕獵者，呢種鷹會用佢哋好似虎爪咁大隻嘅利爪，用力按住恐鳥嘅背部，再開始進食。證據嚟自幾具恐鳥骨骼嘅骨盆上一啲窿，位置同大細都同哈斯特鷹嘅利爪符合。咁樣嘅傷口，腳爪必須穿恐鳥肌肉達5厘米咁深^[2]。

但毛利人進駐紐西蘭之後，佢哋大量捕殺恐鳥以獲取營養豐富嘅鳥蛋同大髀肉，以及骨頭，皮同蛋殼作為生活上嘅必需品。

習性

主要為獨居，或者以小家庭形式生活，有一定嘅地盤，而且有好強嘅保衛地盤意識。科學家相信，佢哋叫起嚟好似洪鐘咁，成個森林充斥住佢哋嘅「隆隆」聲。

所有恐鳥都係食齋嘅，主要食森林裏面嘅灌木同樹葉。紐西蘭好多本土嘅植物，為咗唔畀恐鳥食晒啲葉，都進化出好多由小枝構成嘅網絡結構。

因為紐西蘭以前並無陸上嘅捕獵者，連帶恐鳥嘅繁殖速率都減慢落嚟。有證據顯示，恐鳥一次只生一、兩隻蛋，而目前已發現少量嘅恐鳥巢，全部都係用岩石掩蔽嘅地窿。

絕種原因

當毛利人進駐紐西蘭之後，佢哋開始發現呢種大型嘅雀除咗可帶嚟營養豐富嘅鳥蛋同大髀肉外，佢哋嘅骨頭，皮同蛋殼都分別成為生活上嘅主要用品，加上恐鳥性情溫馴，平易近人，先至成為大量捕獵嘅目標。而繁殖速率緩慢，亦加速佢哋嘅滅亡。

複製恐鳥

喺紐西蘭嘅一個山窿遺跡裏面，俾人發現到有大量嘅恐鳥頭骨，估計係以前毛利人捉恐鳥嚟食時，所拋棄嘅頭骨部分，以及皮膚，羽毛等等，喺山窿遺跡度都保存得相當完好。而家牛津大學嘅科學家，正利用呢啲身體部分進行DNA研究，希望有朝一日，可以複製番呢種世界其中一種最大隻嘅雀^[3]。

睇埋

資料

↑ "dkimages - discover - animals - Moa (Megalapteryx sp.)". 原著喺2014年10月8號歸檔. 喺2009年11月7號搵到.

↑ 《鳥類的秘密生活》，ISBN 986-7879-29-5

↑ 《遭遇大怪獸：人類史前存戰爭》ISBN 986-80922-0-5

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出面網頁

TerraNature list of New Zealand's extinct birds
Moa Pages
TerraNature page on Moa
Tree of Life classification and references
Big Bird´s Last Stand
Moa in Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

呢篇同動物相關係楔位文。歡迎幫維基百科擴寫佢。

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