Ancient DNA provides new insights into the evolutionary history of New Zealand's extinct giant eagle.

• Main Authors: Michael Bunce, Marta Szulkin, Heather R L Lerner, Ian Barnes, Beth Shapiro, Alan Cooper, Richard N Holdaway
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2005-01-01
• Series: PLoS Biology
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030009

Prior to human settlement 700 years ago New Zealand had no terrestrial mammals--apart from three species of bats--instead, approximately 250 avian species dominated the ecosystem. At the top of the food chain was the extinct Haast's eagle, Harpagornis moorei. H. moorei (10-15 kg; 2-3 m wingspan) was 30%-40% heavier than the largest extant eagle (the harpy eagle, Harpia harpyja), and hunted moa up to 15 times its weight. In a dramatic example of morphological plasticity and rapid size increase, we show that the H. moorei was very closely related to one of the world's smallest extant eagles, which is one-tenth its mass. This spectacular evolutionary change illustrates the potential speed of size alteration within lineages of vertebrates, especially in island ecosystems.