Due to its remote island location and thriving biodiversity, New Zealand is known as the home to some truly unique species.

From the adorable Kiwi bird to the Tuatara lizard, New Zealand is a haven for weird and wonderful creatures – and a new discovery has recently proven that this was as much the case in the long past as it is in the present.

Thanks to a recent storm uncovering some mysterious ancient footprints long preserved in sandstone, researchers from across the island nation have been uncovering the truth about the gigantic bird who left them.

Ultimately, the scientists concluded, one bird and one bird alone could have been responsible for these large markings: the moa.

According to a blog from Auckland Museum, there were actually nine species of Moa present in Aotearoa (the Māori name for New Zealand) when humans first settled there – from smaller, turkey-sized birds to those that were bigger even than an elephant!

The birds were first present between 5 and 8.5 million years ago, though they became extinct just under 600 years ago thanks to deforestation and hunting from Aotearoa’s early settlers.

But evidence of these flightless birds has emerged across New Zealand’s north and south islands through various archaeological remains, with these incredible footprints (found to the north west of Auckland) just the most recent finds.

But what makes these footprints so exciting was the quality of the footprints on the sandstone; to protect them, they were quickly excavated for safe storage.

After the safe retrieval and preservation of the sandstone – which was no mean feat, thanks to rapid tidal erosion of sandstone, which threatened to wash away evidence of the large bird forever – the team were able to analyse the Moa footprints to determine which variety of the bird actually made them.

Given that the footprints were dated to around a million years ago, the researchers worked with the possibility that they could have been made by a species that was long extinct by the time humans were living amongst nine varieties of Moa.

From their knowledge of the bird though, they were able to approximate that the bird would have been around 80cm from hip to toe, with a weight of up to 30kg. Their evidence even suggested the speed at which this particular Moa was walking at the time it left the tracks (a leisurely meander of 1.7km per hour).

Though its footprints didn’t match any of the Moa previously known to have inhabited the North Island, the museum staff explain that Moa were known to rapidly evolve, suggesting that this could have been a differently adapted ancestor to the Moa with which they are more familiar.

So while the particular species of Moa has yet to be identified, the vital findings – which were recently published in the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics – tell us more than ever before about the fascinating bird species that inhabited New Zealand’s north island one million years ago.

If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.