Pachyornis is an extinct genus of ratites from New Zealand which belonged to the moa family.

[1] This genus contains three species,[1] and are part of the Anomalopteryginae or lesser moa subfamily.

At least one species (P. australis) is assumed to have had a crest of long feathers on its head.

[2] The species became rapidly extinct following human colonization of New Zealand, with the possible exception of P. australis, which may have already been extinct by then - although the most recent moa skeleton ever described is a partial skeleton of this species, radiocarbon dated to between 1396 and 1442.

Two new genetic lineages, which may eventually be described as new species, are now known to have existed, one each from New Zealand's North and South Island.