Editing Moa (section)

==Distribution and habitat==
Analyses of fossil moa bone assemblages have provided detailed data on the habitat preferences of individual moa species, and revealed distinctive regional moa faunas:<ref name="WH" /><ref>Worthy, Trevor (1998)a</ref><ref>Worthy, Trevor (1998)b</ref><ref>Worthy, Trevor & Holdaway, Richard (1993)</ref><ref>Worthy, Trevor & Holdaway, Richard (1994)</ref><ref>Worthy, Trevor & Holdaway, Richard (1995)</ref><ref>Worthy, Trevor & Holdaway, Richard (1996)</ref>

===South Island===
[[File:Giant moa.jpg|thumb|upright|A restoration of ''Dinornis robustus'' and ''Pachyornis elephantopus'', both from the South Island]]
The two main faunas identified in the South Island include:
: The fauna of the high-rainfall west coast beech (''[[Nothofagus]]'') forests that included ''Anomalopteryx didiformis'' (bush moa) and ''Dinornis robustus'' (South Island giant moa), and
: The fauna of the dry rainshadow forest and shrublands east of the [[Southern Alps]] that included ''Pachyornis elephantopus'' (heavy-footed moa), ''Euryapteryx gravis'', ''Emeus crassus'', and ''Dinornis robustus''.
A '[[subalpine]] fauna' might include the widespread ''D. robustus'', and the two other moa species that existed in the South Island:
:: ''Pachyornis australis'', the rarest moa species, the only moa species not yet found in Māori [[midden]]s. Its bones have been found in caves in the northwest [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] and [[Karamea]] districts (such as [[Honeycomb Hill Cave]]), and some sites around the [[Wānaka]] district.
:: ''Megalapteryx didinus'', more widespread, named "upland moa" because its bones are commonly found in the subalpine zone. However, it also occurred down to sea level, where suitable steep and rocky terrain (such as [[Punakaiki]] on the west coast and [[Central Otago]]) existed. Their distributions in coastal areas have been rather unclear, but were present at least in several locations such as on [[Kaikōura]], [[Otago Peninsula]],<ref>{{cite journal|author=Buick L.T.|year=1937|title=The Moa-Hunters of New Zealand: Sportsman of the Stone Age – Chapter I. Did The Maori Know The Moa?|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BuiMoaH-t1-body-d0-d1.html|journal=Victoria University of Wellington Catalogue – New Zealand Texts Collection|publisher=[[W & T Avery Ltd.]]|access-date=3 February 2015}}</ref> and [[Karitane]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Teviotdale D.|year=1932|title=The material culture of the Moa-hunters in Murihiku – 2. Evidence of Zoology|url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_41_1932/Volume_41,_No._162/The_material_culture_of_the_Moa-hunters_in_Murihiku,_by_David_Teviotdale,_p_81-120/p1|journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=41 |issue=162|pages=81–120|access-date=3 February 2015}}</ref>

===North Island===
Significantly less is known about North Island paleofaunas, due to the scarcity of fossil sites compared to the South Island, but the basic pattern of moa-habitat relationships was the same.<ref name="WH" /> The South Island and the North Island shared some moa species (''Euryapteryx gravis'', ''Anomalopteryx didiformis''), but most were exclusive to one island, reflecting divergence over several thousand years since lower sea level in the [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]] had made a land bridge across the [[Cook Strait]].<ref name="WH" />

In the North Island, ''Dinornis novaezealandiae'' and ''Anomalopteryx didiformis'' dominated in high-rainfall forest habitat, a similar pattern to the South Island. The other moa species present in the North Island (''Euryapteryx gravis'', ''E.&nbsp;curtus'', and ''Pachyornis geranoides'') tended to inhabit drier forest and shrubland habitats. ''P. geranoides'' occurred throughout the North Island. The distributions of ''E.&nbsp;gravis'' and ''E.&nbsp;curtus'' were almost mutually exclusive, the former having only been found in coastal sites around the southern half of the North Island.<ref name="WH" />