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Show 88 MR. E. R. ALSTON ON THE GENUS ANOMALURUS. [Feb. 16, 3. Note on a new Locality of Dinornithides. By Prof. OWEN, C.B., F.R.S., F.Z.S. [Eeceived February 1, 1875.] I have been favoured by an esteemed correspondent, Dr. Coughtrey, with the following notice of a discovery in, to me, a new locality, in the province of Otago, New Zealand, of remains of Dinoriiithidse. He writes : - " It might, perhaps, interest you to know that we got in the Hamilton Swamp remnants of the following species :- " Dinornis maximus. Dinornis didiformis. robustus. casuarinus. ingens. crassus, 2 varieties. struthioides. elephantopus, 2 vars. rheides. gravis. "Of all the above species we have duplicate leg-bones. Besides, we have almost complete skeletons of ** Cnemiornis calcitransi " It is satisfactory to find that the authorities in charge of the rapidly rising museum of Otago appear to have no difficulty in distinguishing the remains oi Dinornis gravis from the varieties referable to Dinornis crassus, m y chief difficulty and, for some time, doubt having been in relation to the limb-bone characters of the former species. Its cranial characters, however, were decisive; and as the number of skulls of Dinornithidse now on hand corresponds with the species, or established varieties, of Dinornis, based on characters of the previously found leg-bones, and as the descriptions and figures of these bones in the 'Transactions of the Zoological Society' evidently serve their purpose in aid of the recognition of parts of the skeleton by their discoveries in new localities of N e w Zealand, one aim of the series of " Memoirs" which the Society has favoured me by publishing has been attained. 4. On Anomalurus, its Structure and Position. By EDWARD R. ALSTON, F.Z.S. [Eeceived February 1, 1875.] (Plate XXI.) This genus was established by Mr. Waterhouse in 1842*, and now contains four or five species, all natives of Tropical Western Africa. In external appearance the Anomalures very closely resemble the larger Flying Squirrels (Pteromys)-their most striking outward distinctions being the double series of large salient scales on the lower surface of the first third of the tail, and the fact that the cartilage which serves to extend the flying expansion has its origin at the elbow instead of at the wrist. They are also described as * P. Z. S. 1842, p. 124. |
