Extinct birds : $b An attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical timesRothschild, Lionel Walter Rothschild, Baron
Science
Extinct birds : $b An attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times
Rothschild, Lionel Walter Rothschild, Baron
Birds; Extinct birds
_Palaeocasuarius_ Forbes.
*_Megalapteryx_ Forbes, part.
_Anomalopteryx_ Reichenbach.
_Meionornis_ Haast.
_Dinornis_ Owen, part.
I have adopted Professor Parker's classification in the genera, only
substituting _Cela_ Reichenbach for _Mesapteryx_ Hutton, which is a synonym
of _Megalapteryx_ Haast. As to the species I have used my own judgment; I
felt obliged to name a number of species acknowledged by Parker and
Lydekker but not named, because this system of indicating species by the
letters A, B, C, &c., which has crept into our nomenclature, will make all
understanding impossible, as not always the same species is denoted by the
same letter. A few of these species will naturally later have to be sunk,
as some have been founded on skulls and others on leg bones, or so, which,
when we get perfect individual skeletons may prove to be identical, but I
do not think these will be many.
Besides a number of imperfect eggs, particulars of which will be found in
Dr. A. B. Meyer's article in the Ibis, 1903, pp. 188-196, there are known
two perfect Moa eggs and one almost perfect one.
1. Otago Museum. Molyneux River, 1901. _Pachyornis pondorosus_.
2. Tring Museum. Molyneux River, 1901. _Megalapteryx huttoni_.
3. Rowley Collection. South Island, 1859. _Dinornis novaezealandiae_.
{191}
DINORNIS.
The skull is broad and much depressed, with a comparatively wide, somewhat
pointed and deflected beak. Breadth at the squamosals twice the height at
basi-temporal. It has a flattened frontal region, and a wide median ridge
on the upper surface of the praemaxillae. The mandible is in the form of a
narrow U, with the angle much inflected, no distinct anticular process, and
the symphysis moderately wide, narrowing anteriorly, with a prominent and
broad inferior ridge, widest in front. The quadrate is elongated, with a
very large pneumatic foramen. The sternum is nearly as long as broad, very
convex, with distinct coracoidal facets, 3 costal articulations, very small
and reflected costal processes, the lateral processes very broad and widely
divergent, and a wide xiphisternal notch. The pelvis is narrow with a high
ilium, in which the inferior border of the postacetabular portion is flat,
and does not descend as a sharp ridge below the level of the anterior
postacetabular vertebrae. The pubis has a small pectineal process; and the
ventral aspect of the true and postacetabular vertebrae is very broad and
much flattened.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account