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
If we next direct attention to the anterior or scaphoid articular
surface, (fig. 3, Pl. XIV.) and compare it with that of the
_Palæotherium magnum_, (fig. 4, Pl. LIV, Ossem. Foss.) it will be seen,
that it presents in the Macrauchenia an oval, and in the Palæotherium an
irregular quadrangular form: in the Macrauchenia, this surface is
uniform or undivided, and is gently convex, except at its lower part;
while in the Palæothere it is divided by an oblique ridge into a broad
internal facet for the scaphoid bone, and a narrow internal surface for
articulation with the os cuboides; the larger surface is also concave
transversely, and slightly convex vertically: in the Tapir, the anterior
surface of the astragalus deviates still further from that of the
Macrauchenia, both in general form, and in the proportion of the
cuboidal facet. In the didactyle Anoplotherium, Camel, and true
Ruminants, where the cuboides presents a large relative size, a still
greater proportion of the anterior surface of the astragalus is devoted
to the articulation with this bone, and is separated from the scaphoid
surface by a well-developed vertical ridge. The Macrauchenia presents,
therefore, the extreme variation from this type;—and should the entire
tarsus hereafter be discovered, it will doubtless be found, that the os
cuboides is articulated posteriorly to the os calcis exclusively.
The external surface of the astragalus of the Macrauchene, (fig. 1. Pl.
XIV,) is longer in proportion to its vertical extent than in the Tapir
or Palæothere: the articular surface for the fibular malleolus is less
curved. Between this surface and the anterior facet the bone is
excavated by a deep notch, both in the Tapir and Palæothere; but in the
Macrauchenia by a gentle concavity. Beneath the malleolar articular
smooth surface in the Palæothere there is a deep pit; in the Tapir a
shallow one; but in the Macrauchenia we observe only a smooth and
slightly convex triangular surface. If we compare the inner surface of
the astragalus in these three animals, we shall find the existing Tapir
again forming a transition between the two extinct genera. In the
Palæothere, a round protuberance projects from the anterior part of this
surface: in the Tapir, we observe a gentle rising of the bone in the
same part, while in the Macrauchene (fig. 2) the surface of the bone is
level at this part. The margin of the tibial malleolar articular
surface, which is very slightly raised in the Macrauchene, is more
developed in the Tapir, and still more so in the Palæothere, where it
forms a ridge, overhanging the rough outer side of the bone. Near the
lower part of this surface we observe a small but deep depression in the
Palæothere; there is a shallower one in the corresponding part in the
Tapir; and the depression is still wider and shallower in the
Macrauchenia. In the Palæothere the astragalus articulates by three
surfaces with the os calcis, posteriorly by a large concave surface,
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