Richard Owen's deduction in 1839, made from just a fragment of bone, that gigantic "struthious" birds had inhabited New Zealand, quickly acuired renown as an outstanding achievement in comparative anatomy. It is not so widely realized that the deduction was almost never made. Without a measure of persistence from Dr John Rule, the bone's owner, the privilege of introducing moas to the scientific world might never have fallen to Owen.Rule was told that his bone came from a colossal eagle, recently extinct but known to the Maori (New Zealand natives) as a movie and the relic was put before Owen with the claim that it came from a bird of flight once inhabiting New Zealand.
On unwrapping the fragment in Rule's presence, Owen immediately realized two things. First, although clearly an object of some age, the fossilization process was yet to take place; secondly, the fragment did not come from any bird capable of flight - the great eagle was a myth. Busy that afternoon and anxious to deliver a scheduled lecture, Owen was disinclined to investigate further, venturing the opinion that before him was nothing more interesting than an ordinary beef bone. Presumably, he paid little attention to Rule's argument that structure was not as might be expected in a mammal's bone but was more suggestive of a bird.
 |
Lesser Megalapteryx.
Chromolithograph after a painting
by an unknown artist from
W. Rothschild's Extinct Birds
(London, 1907), Pl.41. Courtesy
of The Hon. Miriam Rothschild. |
As Owen prepared to dismiss the matter, Rule produced something that really caught the great man's eye - a greenstone mere, the warclub of the Maori. This characteristic weapon of a formidable people was generally used for quick thrusts but the heel was designed for the downward delivery of a coup de grâce to the skull or back of neck as a stumbling opponent fell forwards. To European eyes these short clubs were objects of great curiosity and beauty; perhaps it is not being unfair to Owen to add that they were also pieces fo considerable value, a fact with which he would hardly have been unacquainted. Softened by his interest, Owen now felt more disposed to pay the bone due attention and agreed that, should it be left, he would give it close study after his lecture.
