OCR Text |
Show 1894.] IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Ill It seems possible that these bones must be referred to AS. mul-leri, a species recently named by Milne-Edwards and Grandidier (4), but till a description and further measurements of the limb-bones are published it is impossible to be certain. The tibio-tarsus is, however, slightly smaller, and the tarso-metatarsus slightly larger, than those of which the above-mentioned authors give the dimensions. At first it appeared possible that these bones might be referred to AS. medius, Milne-Edw. & Grand., since the femur on which that species is founded is, like the bones in question, intermediate in size between the femur ascribed to AS. maximus and that of AS. hildebrandti. Closer examination, however, renders it evident that the femur referred by Milne-Edwards and Grrandidier to AS. maximus is too large in proportion to the metatarsus on which that species must be regarded as based, and that it probably belongs to the larger form described below under the name AS. titan. On the other hand, the type of AS. medius agrees fairly well in relative size with the other limb-bones of AS. maximus and may belong to that species. If this is the case, then the name AS. medius becomes a synonym, and, as was remarked above, the remains here described must be referred to another species, possibly AS. mulleri. The phalangeal bone appears to be the first of the inner toe of the left foot. It measures 5*1 cm. long; 2*7 cm. from side to side and 2'4 cm. from above downwards at the proximal end ; 2*4 cm. from side to side and 1*7 cm. from above downwards at the distal end. The proximal articular surface is slightly concave; its upper and outer borders are convex, the inner flat and the lower concave. It is more compressed from above downwards than the corresponding bone of Dinornis; and its distal articular surface, the groove of which does not extend on to the dorsal surface, is rather wider in proportion to the length. The shortest vertical diameter is 1*1 cm. Remains of iEpyornis from the South-west Coast. The chief localities in which these were collected are Itampulu- Va, near Murderers' Bay, and Amboulisatra. All the bones present a very fresh appearance, and some have evidently been rolled on the beach. At least three species are represented, ranging in size from a form much larger than AS. maximus to one which is probably identical with the AS. modestus or the Mulleromis agilis of Milne-Edwards and Grrandidier (4). The specimens include more or less perfect femora, tibio-tarsi, tarso-metatarsi, a fibula, several vertebras, and a fragment of a pelvis. In the collection from ltampulu-Ve occur some tibio-tarsi and femora of gigantic proportions; some of these have already been briefly noticed in the ' Geological Magazine,' January 1894, where they are referred to a new species, ASpyornis titan. There are two specimens of the tibio-tarsus, right and left |