The mystery of the disappearance of the giant flightless moa birds, which once reigned on the islands of New Zealand, has been solved.
Nine species of huge moa birds for millions of years did not know rivals in all of New Zealand. Without even having rudimentary wings, they could not fly, but they ran perfectly, and reaching almost 4 m in height and more than 250 kg in weight, they could not be afraid of anyone and anything on the islands: there were no large mammals here. However, about 600 years ago, they disappeared without exception.
It is widely believed that Maori hunters were to blame for this: it was then that people first reached those distant islands and quickly killed the huge birds. The disappearance of the megafauna? in general, a widespread phenomenon of the past, when people, armed with modern hunting technologies, settled in the most remote corners of the planet.
However, some experts look at this problem from a more moderate position. Your role? and probably not the last one? the extinction of these species could have been played by more natural factors, such as volcanic eruptions, diseases or climate change, against the background of which the global human settlement took place 15-9 thousand years ago. Perhaps something similar happened to moa, albeit with a delay of many hundreds of years?..
English zoologist and paleontologist Richard Owen with a moa skeleton
© John van Voorst
Apparently, it was only now that Danish scientists from Morten Allentoft's team conducted a genetic study of moa remains to put an end to these discussions. There was no excuse for humanity: it was hunting that destroyed the entire population of amazing birds.
Archaeological finds suggest the same idea. According to the surviving remains, the Maori tribes ate moa of all types and sizes, weighing from 12 to 250 kg, as well as their eggs. The first meeting with a large mammal turned out to be fatal for birds: “These are heaps and heaps of bird bones,? says Allentoft. ? If you hunt animals of all ages, they have no chance to survive."
This was also confirmed by genetic analysis of the remains of 281 moa specimens from four different archaeological sites, including representatives of the largest species, Dinornis robustus.
The radiocarbon method made it possible to date them and trace the changes that have occurred with the moa populations over the past 4 thousand years. An analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA was carried out to establish the genetic diversity (and hence the abundance) of different species in different eras of the past.
The approaching extinction of a species can usually be seen: with a rapid decline in numbers, genetic diversity falls just as quickly. However, in the case of moa, this is not observed until the very moment of collapse. Moreover, for thousands of years, the number of these birds remained more or less unchanged, and the giant Dinornis robustus, with the appearance of people here, even slightly increased their number. However, 200 years have passed? and all of them seemed to be wiped off the face of the Earth. “Are they here? and now they are gone ",? says Morten Allentoft.
The conclusion of scientists is simple: the people who have found ways to easily hunt for their meat and eggs are to blame for everything. Before that, the moa populations were in no way withering, shrinking, or sick? until the future aborigines of New Zealand came. “We are used to imagining savages living in harmony and peace with nature? sums up Allentoft. ? But this is only the rarest case. People everywhere are doing whatever they want to survive. This is how it works."