
New Zealand is regarded as one of the most beautiful countries, with astounding land and seascapes. Today, many incredible animals live there and thrive off the land. However, just a few hundred years ago no terrestrial animals existed on the islands. The island had only avian creatures which comprised of the island's whole ecosystem. In a recent genetic discovery, a bird of legend has been brought to life and is now considered to be atop the ancient food chain of New Zealand.


Since the bird is so closely related to smaller birds of today, how did it grow so large? Lack of competition fueled the bird into a massive 50 mp/h flying death machine. Having no terrestrial competitors, this avian species took advantage of the birds on the island that could not fly, particularly the Moa population. This caused the bird to grow larger, and larger with every generation. Around 1350-1400 when humans arrived in New Zealand, the extinction of the Haast's eagle starts, as humans are now the biggest competition to secure food. When the Moa became one of the favorite meals of the early New Zealand settlers, the decrease in population of Haast's eagle began rapidly, as there was no prey that could provide enough energy for the species to survive. And thus, the legend of the Haast's eagle was born, from stories and cave painting of the indigenous people of New Zealand.
This article was extremely interesting because it really made something come to life, that was previously just thought of as a legend or folklore. In uncovering the fossil of the Haast's eagle, it really makes you think how science and biology can honestly sound like one giant fairytale sometimes, but no! This is the world we live in. How cool is that. Being that I find ecology so interesting, I liked how the article connected cell biology down to the mitochondrial level and connected it with a large ecosystem.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050111093910.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539324/
http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/haasts-eagle
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