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
externally by a longitudinal sub-elliptic surface, and anteriorly by a
thin transverse facet: in the Macrauchene (fig. 4) two only of these
surfaces are present, viz. the concave and the longitudinal one, the
anterior transverse surface being wanting: in the Tapir, the transverse
surface is present, but is confluent with the longitudinal one. The
posterior surface is relatively larger and deeper in the Macrauchene
than in the Palæothere, and approaches nearer to the triangular than the
oval form: the longitudinal surface is placed more obliquely, and is
truncated anteriorly. In the Tapir this surface is confluent with the
scaphoid articular surface, but it is separated therefrom by a narrow
strip of bone in both the Palæothere and Macrauchene. It is satisfactory
to find in the bone, which marks most strongly the affinity of
_Macrauchenia_ to _Palæotherium_, so many easily recognizable
differences, because the structure of the cervical vertebræ in the
latter genus is too imperfectly known, to allow us to predicate
confidently a distinction between it and _Macrauchenia_ in that
particular; the difference, however, which they present in the condition
of the bones of the fore-arm and leg, forbids their being considered as
generically related.
There remains to be noticed only a single fractured metatarsal bone
(fig. 1. Pl. XV.) This, from its bent and unsymmetrical figure, is
evidently not a middle one, and having the side of the proximal end,
which was articulated to the adjoining metatarsal in a nearly perfect
state, it enables us to refer it with certainty to the hind-foot, since
it does not agree with any of the corresponding surfaces at the proximal
extremities of the metacarpal bones. It remains then to be determined,
whether it is an external metatarsal of the right-foot, or an internal
one of the left-foot, the general curvature of these being in the same
direction. With neither of these bones in the Tapir does our metatarsal
agree, since it has but one articular facet on the lateral surface of
its proximal end, while the outer metatarsal of the right-foot of the
Tapir, with which, in other respects, it most closely corresponds, has
two articular surfaces. In the cast of a hind-foot of a Palæothere, I
find that the outer metatarsal bone closely agrees with this metatarsal
bone of the Macrauchene, in the structure just alluded to: the
articulation with the middle metatarsal being by a single sub-oval
facet, which stands out a little way from the surface of the bone: the
articular surface in the Macrauchene presents a similar form and
condition, and is similarly situated to that in the Palæothere, being at
the posterior part of the lateral surface, and a little below the
superior or tarsal articular surface. The bone expands towards its
distal end, which corresponds in structure with those of the two lateral
metatarsals in the fore-foot, in being completely divided into two
trochlear surfaces by a well-developed median ridge, and in having the
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