Illustration of an early human hunting the giant moa (Dinornis). Dinornis is an extinct genus of ratite birds belonging to the moa family. Like all ratites it was a member of the order Struthioniformes, or flightless birds. A New Zealand native, Dinornis may have been the tallest bird that ever lived, with the females of the largest species standing 12 feet.This animal appeared during Cenozoic era, the most recent era of geologic time, from about 65 million years ago to the present. Humans first appeared near the end of this era.