The Frightening Discovery of the Mount Owen Claw

[: Michael-Robert.]

 

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[: Michael-Robert.]

Nearly three decades ago, a team of archaeologists were carrying out an expedition inside a large cave system on Mount Owen in New Zealand when they stumbled across a frightening and unusual object. With little visibility in the dark cave, they wondered whether their eyes were deceiving them, as they could not fathom what lay before them—an enormous, dinosaur-like claw still intact with flesh and scaly skin. The claw was so well-preserved that it appeared to have come from something that had only died very recently.

The archaeological team eagerly retrieved the claw and took it for analysis. The results were astounding; the mysterious claw was found to be the 3,300-year-old mummified remains of an upland moa, a large prehistoric bird that had disappeared from existence centuries earlier.

The upland moa (Megalapteryx didinus) was a species of moa bird endemic to New Zealand. A DNA analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested that the first moa appeared around 18.5 million years ago and there were at least ten species, but they were wiped from existence “in the most rapid, human-facilitated megafauna extinction documented to date.”

With some sub-species of moa reaching over 10 feet (3 meters) in height, the moa was once the largest species of bird on the planet. However, the upland moa, one of the smallest of the moa species, stood at no more than 4.2 feet (1.3 meters). It had feathers covering its whole body, except the beak and soles of its feet, and it had no wings or tail. As its name implies, the upland moa lived in the higher, cooler parts of the country.

The Frightening Discovery of the Mount Owen Claw

Nearly three decades ago, a team of archaeologists were carrying out an expedition inside a large cave system on Mount Owen in New Zealand when they stumbled across a frightening and unusual object…

www.ancient-origins.net

 

[Red-Coat]

Fascinating, but the picture from ‘Ancient Origins’ is not of the Mount Owen specimen found in 1987. Several partial remains have been found over the years and the Mount Owen find is not as complete as that.

The pictured specimen was found at Queenstown in 1876 and has been in the London Natural History Museum collection since 1882. The discovered remains from Queenstown included the mummified head, neck and hind limbs, which are regarded as the holotype for Megalapteryx didinus.

Credit: J. Erxleben - https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/97410#page/417/mode/1up, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4358385

 

[: Michael-Robert.]

Fascinating, but the picture from ‘Ancient Origins’ is not of the Mount Owen specimen found in 1987. Several partial remains have been found over the years and the Mount Owen find is not as complete as that.

The pictured specimen was found at Queenstown in 1876 and has been in the London Natural History Museum collection since 1882. The discovered remains from Queenstown included the mummified head, neck and hind limbs, which are regarded as the holotype for Megalapteryx didinus.

View attachment 2137022

Credit: J. Erxleben - https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/97410#page/417/mode/1up, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4358385

Red-Coat,

Having a problm reading again, I see. Try reading the article again and dont forget to scroll down. You obviously mis-read or did not read the article. The confusion is obvious in your post and understanding.

 

[Red-Coat]

Red-Coat,

Having a problm reading again, I see. Try reading the article again and dont forget to scroll down. You obviously mis-read or did not read the article. The confusion is obvious in your post and understanding.

No I don't have a problem reading... this is NOT the Mount Owen Claw, it's the Queenstown holotype, found a hundred years earlier:

 

[luke_00]

Red-coat states that the featured photo is not the Mount Owen Claw. This just shows how pathetic the current state of journalism has become. Ancient Origins should be a well respected site, but they (and most other internet sites)have stooped to click-bait photos to entice readers. I assume the real Mount Owen Claw was not very photogenic.