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
Only known by a tarso-metatarsus, femur and tibio-tarsus from the Middle
Island, New Zealand. The bones at once noticeable by their great length,
and are more slender than the same bones in _D. maximus_. This form must
therefore, till further material comes to hand, be treated as a separate
species.
Locality: Middle Island, New Zealand. Collected by Dr. Lillie. {193}
DINORNIS GIGANTEUS OWEN.
_Dinornis giganteus_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. III p. 237 (1843) and p.
307 (1846).
_Moa giganteus_ Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. der Vög. p. XXX (1850).
_Dinornis maximus_ (non _D. maximus_ Owen of 1867!) Trans. Zool. Soc. X
p. 147 (1877).
_D. validus_ Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. p. 111 (1892).
This is, as regards size, one of the more variable forms in the
tarso-metatarsus, while the tibio-tarsus is remarkably constant. The
tibio-tarsus is almost invariably 35 inches in length, while the
tarso-metatarsus varies from 17.5 to 19 inches in length.
The type of _D. giganteus_ Owen is from Poverty Bay; the type of _D.
validus_ is from Glenmark.
Habitat: North and Middle Islands, New Zealand.
Portion of skeleton in Tring Museum, from Kopua Swamps, Canterbury, New
Zealand.
DINORNIS INGENS OWEN.
(PLATE 42.)
_Dinornis ingens_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. III p. 237 (1843).
_Movia ingens_ Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. der Vög. p. xxx (1850).
_D. ingens var. robustus_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. III p. 307 (1846).
_Palapteryx robustus_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. III p. 345 (1848).
_D. firmus_ Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV p. 114 (1892).
_D. potens_ Hutton, l.c. p. 115.
_D. ingens_ shows considerable variation in size, but the inter-gradation
is so complete that it seems impossible to retain the four species
_ingens_, _firmus_, _potens_ and _robustus_, which Captain Hutton admits.
This form was widely distributed over the North and Middle Islands. The
type skull of _P. robustus_ came from Timaru, the type of _firmus_ from
Wanganui, that of _ingens_ from Poverty Bay, while that of _potens_ is
quoted from the East side of Middle Island, without specific type locality.
Habitat: North and Middle Islands.
The plate of this species was reconstructed by Mr. Frohawk from the
skeleton and feathers in my museum, and the feathers found with the
skeleton now in the York Museum. The only criticism that might be made in
connection with this picture is that the feathers are drawn a little too
much like those of _Apteryx australis_, but this is not of any consequence,
as the Moa feathers in the Tring Museum and elsewhere vary considerably in
appearance, though being more or less coloured like _Apteryx_ feathers.
There is an almost perfect skeleton in the Tring Museum. {194}
DINORNIS GRACILIS OWEN.
_Dinornis gracilis_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. IV (1855) p. 141.
_D. torosus_ Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV p. 117 (1892).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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