Chapter 1
The bird designed by a committee
Chapter 2
The ultimate egg laying champion
Chapter 3
The evolutionary plot twist
Chapter 4
Surviving the modern world
YOUR GOAL
Master of The bird that forgot how to bird
Ch 3 · The evolutionary plot twist
misslily Kiwi Bird Evolutionary Origin
We flew across the sea so wild and free! (Yeah, we flew!) / Now a ten-foot giant is my family tree! (Oh-oh!)
misslily Maori tradition celebrates the kiwi as a sacred taonga for answering forest god Tane Mahuta's plea to save
misslily Small, winged kiwi ancestors fly over the ocean toward prehistoric New Zealand.
Fun Fact
The kiwi's sibling: The kiwi's closest relative, the Madagascar elephant bird, laid eggs that were 150 times larger than a chicken egg.
Glossary
ratite (noun)
Any of a group of flightless birds that have a flat breastbone without a keel. DNA evidence suggests the kiwi's ancestors flew to New Zealand rather than walking from Gondwana.
Any of a group of flightless birds that have a flat breastbone without a keel. DNA evidence suggests the kiwi's ancestors flew to New Zealand rather than walking from Gondwana.
Quiz
How do scientists believe the ancestors of the kiwi bird first reached New Zealand?