FOUR MOA BONES
Lot 20

FOUR MOA BONES

NEW ZEALAND, BEFORE 1400

Closed10 October 2013

Price Realised

GBP 3,000

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FOUR MOA BONES
NEW ZEALAND, before 1400
the right tibia, left femur, right tarso-metatarsal and dorsal vertebra, each with old collection labels for Diornis elephantopus, Middle Island New Zealand
22in. (56cm.) long (4)

No. 20 from the Collection of John Cummings (1812-1898)
Deaccessioned from Woburn Public Library

Specialist note

Described by Richard Owen in 1854, the heavy-footed Moa is now given the binomial name Pachyornis elephantopus, the naming on the lables suggesting an acquisition date of circa 1860. A complete skeleton of this now extinct bird can be seen in the famous 1879 portrait of Owen, and is held at the Natural History Museum in London.