The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle [vol. 1 of 5] : $b Fossil mammaliaOwen, Richard
Science
The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle [vol. 1 of 5] : $b Fossil mammalia
Owen, Richard
Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Mammals, Fossil; Paleontology -- South America; Zoology
Having detected in the base of the skull of the Scelidothere an
articular semicircular pit for the head of the styloglossal bone,
similar to, but relatively smaller than, that remarkable one in the
skull of the Glossothere, it became a matter of interest to determine
whether this structure, which does not exist in any of the existing
Edentals, should likewise be present in the gigantic type of the
Megatherioid family. The result of a careful removal of the matrix from
the basal region of one of the cranial fragments of the Megatherium was
the detection of this articular cavity, in each temporal bone in the
same relative position as in the Glossothere and Scelidothere. The
styloid articular cavity is relatively smaller, and shallower, than in
the Glossothere, its proportions being much the same as those of the
Scelidothere. The cranial or posterior extremity of the stylo-hyoid bone
in the Scelidotherium is bent upwards at an obtuse angle (Pl. XXI.), and
terminates in an articular ball which rotates in this cavity. The size
of this bone, and its mode of articulation, indicates great power and
muscularity of tongue in the Megatherioids, and calls to mind the
importance of that organ in the Giraffe, which subsists on the same kind
of food as that which I have supposed to have supported the
Megatherioids, although the general organization of these animals and
the mode in which the foliage was brought within reach of the tongue are
as opposite as can well be imagined.
The anterior condyloid foramen presents scarcely one-half the absolute
size of that of the Glossothere, whence we may infer a correspondingly
inferior development of the tongue in the Megathere. The fractured
parietes of the cranial cavity of the Megatherium every where exhibit
evidences of the great extent of the air-cells or sinuses continued from
the nasal cavity: on the basilar aspect of the cranium they extend as
far back as the jugular foramina: the whole of the basi-sphenoid being
thus excavated, and permeable to air, derived from the sphenoid sinuses,
(Pl. XXX. fig. 2.). The vertical diameter of the cranial cavity is four
inches, eight lines; its transverse diameter, which is greatest in the
posterior third part of the cavity, corresponding with the posterior
part of the cerebrum is six inches: from the indications afforded by the
remains of the cranial cavity in Mr. Darwin’s specimens, I conclude that
the brain of the Megatherium was more depressed, and upon the whole,
smaller by nearly one-half than that of the Elephant; but with the
cerebellum relatively larger, and situated more posteriorly with
relation to the cerebral hemispheres: whence it may be concluded that
the Megatherium was a creature of less intelligence, and with the
command of fewer resources, or a less varied instinct than the Elephant.
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