‘Extremely rare’ moa footprints discovered near South Head, Auckland

Thirteen large moa footprints have been discovered in a remote area of ​​Auckland.

The find, near South Head on the Kaipara Peninsula, was only the 14th recorded discovery of moa tracks in 150 years.

Geoscience communicator Julian Thomson and geologist Dr Bruce Hayward were in the area making a video about four other moa tracks, discovered nearby in 2022, when they came across the fossils.

“Fossilized moa tracks are extremely rare,” Hayward said.

Of the recorded finds, these were the second oldest, at around a million years old, he said.

“The large number of footprints on one surface is highly unusual.”

Geoscience communicator Julian Thomson with some of the moa tracks he and Dr Bruce Hayward discovered at South Head in the Kaipara.
Photo: Learning provided/out there

Most other recorded moa tracks were preserved in mud or volcanic ash in river valleys, Hayward said, but these tracks were left in wet sand at the top of a beach.

“Their sharp form was captured by the dry sand that blew over them and filled them, while the sand from the beach and dunes buried them deeply.

“They remained buried until recent marine erosion exposed them. They are trapped in soft sandstone that is now rapidly disintegrating.”

Thomson said it was “very fortunate” that the couple were able to capture the footprints on video.

“They won’t last long and at least now we have a record for the future.”

On the couple’s second visit to the site, paleontologist Dr. Daniel Thomas, a specialist in fossil birds, took measurements and images to make a 3D model of the site before it succumbed to further erosion.

Their work would allow for a detailed study of the moa’s size, weight and behavior, Thomson and Hayward said.

The video the couple were originally making, about the other four moa tracks, would be added to their YouTube channel Out There Learning, which highlights the geology and landforms of Aotearoa.