Resumen de Mega-swan once called New Zealand home
New Zealand was once home to a hulking, semi-flightless black swan that died out shortly after humans first arrived from Polynesia in the 13th century. Now, Nicolas Rawlence at the University of Otago and his colleagues have used genetic techniques to confirm the mega-swan's existence. The researchers compared DNA from 47 modern Australian black swans and 39 ancient swan fossils uncovered in New Zealand. Many of the fossils came from the isolated Chatham Islands located 650 kilometers east of New Zealand's mainland, home to the Moriori. The analysis suggests the mega-swan split from C. atratus about 1 to 2 million years ago.
