Part 77

Habitat: New Zealand.

PALAEOCASUARIUS VELOX FORBES.

Palaeocasuarius velox Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 189 (1892).

Femur: length 9.5 inches; width across head and trochanter 2.75 inches, across distal end 2.5 inches. Tarso-metatarsus: length 7 inches; width in centre 1.5 inches, across distal end 3 inches.

Type specimen from Manitoto in Liverpool Museum.

Habitat: New Zealand.

PALAEOCASUARIUS ELEGANS FORBES.

Palaeocasuarius elegans Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 189 (1892).

Femur: length 10.75 inches; width across head and trochanter 3.25 inches, across distal end 3.4 inches. Tarso-metatarsus: length 7.8 inches, width over centre 1.75, over distal end about 3.3 inches.

Type specimen from Manitoto in the Liverpool Museum.

Habitat: New Zealand.

{221}

AEPYORNITHIDAE.

The first notice we have from a scientific man of the existence on Madagascar of large Struthious birds is the description by Isidore Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire of two eggs and a few osseous remains, in the Annales des Sciences naturelles III, Zoologie, vol. XIV (1850). These important objects were sent to the describer by a colonist of Réunion, Monsieur de Malavois, but were obtained from the natives in Madagascar by Captain M. Abadie. A third egg arrived smashed. The name given on this evidence was Aepyornis maximus.

Since then some 40 eggs at least and a large number of odd bones have been collected by Monsieur Grandidier, Messrs. Last and others, and Dr. Forsyth Major, but only one practically complete, and one less complete skeleton of a smaller species, named Aepyornis hildebrandti by Dr. Burckhardt.

A large number of species has been diagnosed on the evidence of these bones and eggs by Professor Milne-Edwards, Mr. Dawson Rowley and Mr. Andrews, and a second genus, Mullerornis, established.

The following is the diagnosis of the family

AEPYORNITHIDAE.

Head less flattened than in the Dinornithidae, much longer and narrower. Brain case much greater in volume. Occipital condyle strongly pedunculate. Temporal fossae deep and narrow. The basisphenoid has on each side a well marked pterygoidal apophysis. The lower mandible is straight and stout, recalling somewhat that of Rhea, but the maxillary branches are higher and stouter. The symphysis is long, contracted, and hollowed out in the shape of a ladle. The sternum presents many affinities to that of Apteryx. It is a thin plastron, flattened, and much widened. The coracoidal articular surfaces similar to those of Apteryx. The Coraco-scapulars are feeble, and have so faint an articular surface that the humerus must have been rudimentary. Hallux absent, outer digit has five, the middle digit four, and the inner digit three phalanges.

There are three genera and twelve species.

A striking character is that in the genus Aepyornis the proximal extremity of the tarso-metatarsus is larger than the distal extremity, a feature not found in the majority of other birds.

Monsieur Grandidier has expressly pointed out that Aepyornis had only three toes, I cannot, therefore, understand why Messrs. Lydekker and Evans both state that the hallux is present. {222}

In spite of the researches of Messrs. Grandidier, Last, and Forsyth Major and the large collections sent home by them, the number of Aepyornis bones is infinitesimal compared with the vast masses of bones of the Dinornithidae contained in the museums. This paucity of material quite prohibits us from making a critical study of the described species, so that we are at present unable to say if too many or too few species have been diagnosed. I am inclined, however, to think that if we ever get complete skeletons of the larger forms, Ae. grandidieri and Ae. cursor will prove to be sexes of one species, and also Ae. titan and Ae. maximus. For the present, however, the measurements are too different to allow of their being united without further investigation.

The three genera are as follows:--

AEPYORNIS T. GEOFF.

Aepyornis Geoffroy Saint Hilaire.

Epiornis Geoffroy Saint Hilaire.

Epyornis Auct.