It is estimated that the grown female typically spanned up to 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in), possibly up to 3 m (10 ft) in a few cases. It had a relatively short wingspan for its size. Description įoot bones of Haast's eagle (top) and those of its closest living relative, the little eagle. A recent mitochondrial DNA study found it to be more closely related to the little eagle than the booted eagle, with an estimated divergence from the little eagle around 2.2 million years ago. This was made possible in part by the presence of large prey and the absence of competition from other large predators. The suggested increase in the average weight of Haast's eagle over that period would therefore represent the largest, fastest evolutionary increase in average weight of any known vertebrate species. If this estimate is correct, its increase in weight by ten to fifteen times is an exceptionally rapid weight increase. moorei is estimated to have diverged from these smaller eagles as recently as 1.8 million to 700,000 years ago. Harpagornis moorei was therefore reclassified as Hieraaetus moorei. ĭNA analysis later showed that this bird is related most closely to the much smaller little eagle as well as the booted eagle and not, as previously thought, to the large wedge-tailed eagle. The genus name was from the Greek harpax, meaning "grappling hook", and ornis, meaning "bird". Haast named the eagle Harpagornis moorei after George Henry Moore, the owner of the Glenmark Estate, where the bones of the bird had been found. Haast's eagle was first described by Julius von Haast in 1871 from remains discovered by the Canterbury Museum taxidermist, Frederick Richardson Fuller, in a former marsh.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |