[6] The heavy-footed moa was named as Dinornis elephantopus by Richard Owen in 1856 from leg bones found by Walter Mantell at Awamoa, near Oamaru, and given by him to the Natural History Museum, London.

[10] Due to its relative isolation before the Polynesian settlers arrived, New Zealand has a unique plant and animal community and had no native terrestrial mammals.

This supports the earlier idea that the heavy-footed moa was adapted to consume tough vegetation, but it also shows that it had a varied diet and could eat most plant products, including wood.

[11][12] The heavy-footed moa's only real predator (before the arrival of humans and non-native placental mammals) was the Haast's eagle; however, recent evidence from coprolites has shown that they also hosted several groups of host-specific parasites, including nematode worms.

[13] The articulated skeleton of a heavy-footed moa from Otago, New Zealand, is on display in the Collectors' Cabinet gallery at Leeds City Museum, UK.