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Science 24 March 2000:
Vol. 287. no. 5461, pp. 2250 - 2254
DOI: 10.1126/science.287.5461.2250
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Reports

Rapid Extinction of the Moas (Aves: Dinornithiformes): Model, Test, and Implications

R. N. Holdaway, 1* C. Jacomb 2

A Leslie matrix population model supported by carbon-14 dating of early occupation layers lacking moa remains suggests that human hunting and habitat destruction drove the 11 species of moa to extinction less than 100 years after Polynesian settlement of New Zealand. The rapid extinction contrasts with models that envisage several centuries of exploitation.

1 Palaecol Research, 167 Springs Road, Hornby, Christchurch 8004, New Zealand.
2 Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: piopio{at}netaccess.co.nz

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