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The Conversation
The Conversation
Environment
Nic Rawlence, Associate Professor in Ancient DNA, University of Otago

Are kiwi and moa recent immigrants from Australia? Neither fossils nor genetic evidence support the story

New Zealand Australia Nic Rawlence Aotearoa New Zealand Aotearoa Zealandia
Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

Aotearoa New Zealand is a land of birds, from the smallest of wrens to the mightiest of moa. The ancestors of some species have been here for tens of millions of years, while others arrived only a few million years ago.

So a recent suggestion that moa and kiwi are recent immigrants from Australia, while wrens and kākāpō are New Zealand’s truly ancient birds, was sure to ignite controversy.

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