A group of birds called ratites are flightless birds. Ratites include ostriches, emus, and the extinct moas. Scientists believed that the moas most recent common ancestor would have been a flightless bird as well. But that is not the case. Read the following article, Dinosaur Extinction Grounded Ancient Birds, New Research Finds from sciencedaily.com. Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A group of birds called ratites are flightless birds. Ratites include ostriches, emus, and the extinct moas. Scientists believed that the moas most recent common ancestor would have been a flightless bird as well. But that is not the case. Read the following article, Dinosaur Extinction Grounded Ancient Birds, New Research Finds from sciencedaily.com. 
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The moas got to new Zealand because there ansectors were there and they changed over time. The moas evolved without the ability to fly bcause of the anscetoral species. They had a flightless ansector what were ground feeding brids.The evolution of brids have to do with dinosaurs because some dinosaurs were flying. And brids evolved from some dinosaurs.
ReplyDeleteThough moas are flightless, their ancestors had had the ability and flew themselves to the island. The moas had acquired the ability to fly in order to be able to get enough food to survive by. However, when the dinosaurs died out, there was an abundance of food in the area and the moas didn't need to fly in order to find food.
ReplyDeleteLike Kelly said the moas were not all flightless because the ones that were from different areas had the extinction effect earlier than most places. After the dinosaurs died since they ate most of the food, the remaining animals had all the leftovers and since there was a few survivors then there was enough to go around.
ReplyDeleteThe ancestors of the flightless moas had the ability to fly, which is how they got off New Zealand. However, after the dinosaurs were extinct, the birds could get food more easily, and wouldn't need to fly to escape the dinosaur predators. As a result, they evolved into becoming flightless according to Darwin's theory of evolution.
ReplyDeleteThe flightless moas' ancestors had the faculty to fly which explains why they are now in New Zealand. After the dinosaurs became extinct, the Moas' ancestors didn't have to worry about predators as much so they could hunt animals in their favorite way, by foot. After many years of talented killing by foot, the Moas' ancestors lost the ability to fly - it's not like they needed it anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe ancestors of the moas must have been able to fly to get to New Zealand in the first place. Then generation after generation the moas ancestors began to not use their wings making them loose them over time. So now the moas are a flightless bird but their ancestors were not.
ReplyDeleteThe flightless moas' ancestors once could fly which tells us how they got to New Zealand. However, once the dinosaurs started going extinct, there was more food available for the flightless moas. There was enough food that they didn't even need there wings so the moas' lost their ability to fly.
ReplyDeleteThe flightless moas' ancestors could fly, which is how they got to the island of New Zealand. The moas evolved not to have the ability to fly because there was enough food and not that many predators for them to worry about. Once the dinosaurs became extinct, there was no need for the birds need to fly away to survive. Through natural selection, the moas evolved to what was best suited to their environment, which doesn't require flight.
ReplyDeleteThe ancestors had to fly because they were more vulnerable on land becuase of dinosaurs. They were probably the ones to migrate to New zealand. Then after the dinosaurs died they didn't need to fly because it takes a lot of energy so they adapted and became flightless.
ReplyDeleteDarwin's theory on evolution can really explain why the moas can not fly today. What happened is that they flew to New Zealand because their ancestors could fly, but once they had less predators (like dinosaurs) and more food, they did not need the ability to fly. So the moas evolved to not have these traits.
ReplyDeleteThe closest ancestors of the Moas are from South America. It is likely that these birds migrated to New Zealand, and with the extinction of many predators these birds eventually did not need to use their wings. Without the need of the usage of their wings they became flightless.
ReplyDeleteThe Moas' had ancestors that could fly but they outgrew the trait because they no longer needed to be able to fly. When the birds had predators they were in more danger and needed the ability to fly but ever since the dinosaurs went extinct they have evolved to the point where they can no longer fly. Also they have gotten more food, resulting in them gaining wieght. This also probably made them not need to fly because with more food they would not need to fly to catch their prey.
ReplyDelete-Ali R. 6th period
The ancestors of the flightless moas had the ability to fly, which is how they got off their original home of New Zealand. As the dinosaur population began to diminish, food was much more abundant to the moas making flight not needed. Without the worry of predators or the need to travel for food, flight was no longer used by the birds.
ReplyDeleteThe ancestors of the Moas flew to New Zealand from a mainland and because of the mass extinction of the dinosaurs they had no reason for being able to fly anymore and thus they became flightless and ground feeders.
ReplyDeleteMany large flightless birds such as the cassowary, ostrich, and moa have a common flying ancestor from South America called the tinamous. This ancestor flew over to New Zealand and evolved into the moa. The tinamous started to evolve when the dinosaurs died out. The tinamous was already fast on it's feet and with the lack of predators, there was no need to fly away in order to escape. With few predators and more food, the tinamous had the resources and space to evolve into the flightless moa.
ReplyDeleteChloe F 5
ReplyDeleteThere is new research that suggests that ancestors of different species, such as the African ostrich, became flightless independently. A surplus of food and the extinction of the dinosaurs probably helped take off some of the pressure that had previously led them to be selected for flight in order to survive. Another example of evolution is seen in the flying ancestors of ratites, which originally appeared to be ground-feeding birds that ran well. So when the dinosaurs became extinct, it opened up new possibilities that allowed the species to evolve into a larger size, and even lose their flying ability. Lastly the discovery of independent origins of “flightlessness” points to the way in which these non-flying birds spread around the world despite many sea and ocean barriers. Simply put, their ancestors were able to fly.
Moa birds from New Zealand are extinct, but why are there birds that are there ancestors still alive somewhere in South America? It's probably because they all started at the same location together in South America, but they are migrated into different places. It happen to be where the Moas were located they couldnt survive because they needed to fly for reasons for survival. Even though there ancestors could fly the Moas could not which means they should be faster and ground feeding birds. The question is still in the air on, Why did the Moas go extinct?
ReplyDeleteThe flightless moas' ancestors wewre able to fly, but they wouldnt fly unless they were going up a hill or runnign away from predetors. Over time these flightless birds weren't being hunted so their wing muslces became weak,which was possible passed to their offspring.
ReplyDelete