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A team of evolutionary biologists from Harvard University, working with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, East Carolina University, Osaka University and the University of Toronto, reconstructed the genome of an extinct species of flightless bird that became known as the little bush moa.

In their study, published in the journal Scientific progressthe group sequenced DNA recovered from a fossilized bone found on the South Island (the largest and southernmost of the two main islands that make up New Zealand).

The little bush moa was once one of the largest birds in the world—about the size of a modern turkey—they disappeared shortly after human settlers arrived in New Zealand. Before that, they roamed the forested islands of New Zealand for millions of years. They were unique due to the complete lack of wings. Previous partial sequencing showed that they had the genes needed to grow wings, but over time they mutated as the birds slowly evolved into flightless land dwellers.

The fossil used by the research team came from a bird that is one of the nine species believed to be extinct, Anomalopteryx didiformis. The team described their results as restoring a complete mitochondrial genome to the nuclear genome of a male moa, an achievement that was considered challenging.

After sequencing, the researchers discovered that the birds could see in the ultraviolet spectrum, an ability that would have helped them catch hidden prey. They also had what the group described as a sensitivity to bitter foods, a trait common in modern birds. The data also show that the bird’s likely population was once 240,000, and that birds diverged from their closest relatives approximately 70 million years ago.

The research team suggests that in addition to providing new information about the small bush moa, their results should also function as a new resource for other teams working to better understand bird evolution.