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In 1912 four moa footprints were found close to the Fitzroy Street section of the river. Their discovery was one of the first of its kind in New Zealand.

They were found by Henry Cole after a flood had washed away the bank exposing the footprints in a bed of stiff blue clay, called papa. Initially the prints were cut out of the papa. While these no longer exist plaster casts were also made and these are held by Te Manawa, the museum of Palmerston North.

The moa in question was probably a large species called Dinornis novaezelandiae. The footprints found measured 45.5cm wide and just over 30cm from the tip of its middle toe to its heel. Its stride was 76 cm.

Identification

Object type
Image
Relation
Te Manawa 98-197-2
Date
1912
Digitisation ID
2021P_TeManawa98-197-2_035420
Format
Born Digital
Held In
Other

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Creation

Created By
Place
Manawatū riverbank

Object rights

License
By Attribution Alone

Taxonomy

Tags
moa,
Community Tags
manawatu river,
museum artifacts,
native birds,
new zealand birds,
papa,

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