The Deseado Formation of PatagoniaLoomis, Frederic Brewster
Science
The Deseado Formation of Patagonia
Loomis, Frederic Brewster
Paleontology -- Patagonia (Argentina and Chile)
The femur belongs to the type specimen which is about 5% larger than
the other specimens. This bone is long and rather slender, with the
greater trochanter rising well above the head, which is rounded, on a
short neck, and has the ligamentary pit on the posterior margin. The
thick, rugose, greater trochanter bends in over the head at its upper
end. The lesser trochanter is relatively small, and prolonged into a
ridge. Unfortunately the third trochanter is broken off in my specimen.
The digital fossa is extremely large and deep. Proximally the shaft is
flattened, but becomes rounded distally. Just above the condyles there
is a deep rugose pit for the plantaris muscle, and on the anterior
side the suprapatellar fossa is well marked. The condyles are placed
a trifle obliquely; the internal one being shorter and with a rounded
articular face, the external condyle being longer, and with a flattened
articular face which slopes obliquely inward.
Of the tibia, only the distal end is preserved. This indicates a rather
slender bone, with a shallow, fairly wide concavity for the external
astragular trochlea, and a narrower and deeper concavity for the
internal astragular trochlea. On the internal side of the tibia there
is a rugose surface for the fibula.
An isolated lower end of a fibula indicates a slender bone, enlarged
distally where it comes in contact with the tibia. The fibula carries
on its inner face a moderately large facet for the external side of
the astragulus, and on the distal end a wider one for contact with the
calcaneum.
The tarsus is compactly built, wider than that of Diadiaphorus, because
the external digits are not as much reduced. This especially shows in
the greater development of the cuboid and the mesocuneiform, but in
other features it is similar to that of its descendant.
[Illustration: Fig. 10. Left pes, dorsal side, ungual phalanx from
specimen No. 3275—½ natural size.]
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