The Deseado Formation of PatagoniaLoomis, Frederic Brewster
Science
The Deseado Formation of Patagonia
Loomis, Frederic Brewster
Paleontology -- Patagonia (Argentina and Chile)
Of the femur I have only the distal end, which, however, corresponds
completely with the one figured by Gaudry. It is a long bone, slightly
shorter than the humerus, with a small head, set on a short and poorly
outlined neck. The greater trochanter is wide and rugose, rising
to about the same height as the head. The lesser trochanter is not
distinguishable. About the middle of the shaft there is a powerful
third trochanter, which continues as a narrow ridge upward to the
greater trochanter, and downward in a similar narrow ridge almost to
the outer condyle. At the proximal end the shaft is greatly flattened,
but in the central and lower parts becomes almost circular in section.
The two condyles are set wide apart, project considerably behind the
posterior face of the shaft, and are only slightly convex. The trochlea
is of moderate width, short, and shallow.
Gaudry outlines a short, heavy, rugose calcaneum which has but a short
tuber; a flat navicular; a small cuboid; and an astragulus with only a
slight convexity of the trochlea, and with the navicular facet directed
obliquely forward, making an angle of 127° with the plane of the
trochlea, which, as he says, would indicate a semidigitigrade position
of the pes.
The following species are distinguished by Ameghino as coming from
the Deseado beds: _P. holmbergi_, _P. troussarti_, _P. lemoinei_, _P.
ephebicum_, _P. martiale_, _P. superabile_, _P. insuperabile_. The
various species are known from the same parts in but a few cases. Their
relative sizes are indicated from the following compilation of the
measurements given by Ameghino:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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