The pelvis of an upland moa was found under an overhang and behind a rock, protected from strong winds and high rainfall, in a tributary to the Hopkins River, by rangers doing possum control work.
The bone was subsequently sent to Canterbury Museum.
When contacted, the museum's curator of vertebrate zoology, Dr Paul Scofield, said the upland moa was probably one of the last moa species to become extinct.
It was a small species, confined to high altitude areas and was only found in the South Island.
It was quite well known from places like Fiordland and also in the Nelson area, but not particularly well known from the central South Island. The discovery of the bone had managed to ‘‘fill a gap'' in knowledge about them.
It was unusual to get much material from the greywacke part of the South Island and the find was also quite important from that point of view, Dr Scofield said.
He intended having a look at the area where the pelvis was found and hoped there would be some long bones that could be sampled for DNA, and carbon dating could be used to age them.
It was possible a moa feather could be found on the site. The pelvis bone would be amalgamated into the collection at the museum, Dr Scofield said.
Doc's Twizel biodiversity programme manager Dean Nelson said the rangers who discovered the bone were excited, as they had an inkling of what it was.
