| OCR Text |
Show 118 MR. C. W. ANDREWS ON REMAINS OP JEPYORNIS [Feb. 6, articular region, though the shaft presents considerable differences. These are:- (1) The flattening of the lower part of the anterior surface is less marked. (2) Above the flattened region the shaft contracts somewhat suddenly in width, becoming at the same time oval in section. (3) The groove for the extensor tendons of the digits is somewhat deeper than in AS. maximus, the ridge on its outer side being more strongly developed, while its inner border rises into an elongated blunt tuberosity, 2-5 cm. in length from above downwards, its lower end being about 3 cm. above the inner condyle. (4) Judging from various fragments, the whole tibio-tarsus appears to have been of much more slender proportions than in the larger forms; it probably measured about 50 cm. in length *, or rather more than the tibio-tarsus of AS. hildebrandti, the other dimensions of which are considerably greater than the corresponding ones of this bone. The other chief measurements are :- cm. Width of distal end 7-5 Diameter of shaft from side to side at narrowest point 3*2 Circumference at the same point 8*7 The most nearly complete specimen of the smaller femora unfortunately wants the entire trochanter and inner condyle, while the head and outer condyle are much abraded. From the upper surface of the head to the lower end of the outer condyle, measured along a line parallel to the long axis of the bone, the length is 24*5 cm.; a similar measurement of the femur of AS. titan gives 40 cm. The circumference of the shaft at the narrowest point is 13 cm., while that of the femur on which AS. modestus is founded is given by Milne-Edwards as 12 cm.; two other femora in this collection measure 11*5 and 12 cm. The bone is much compressed from before backwards, and the upper portion of the anterior face is very flat. The popliteal fossa is shallow and its borders less strongly defined than in the larger forms. The wall of the bone is compact and thin, but, unlike the larger femora, the cavity is large, since the bony reticulum is little developed. In the collection from Itampulu-Ve there are several nearly complete vertebras belonging to a large and a small species. The smaller vertebras include a nearly complete cervical, a cervico-dorsal, and two dorsals. 1 The actual length of the tibia of Mullerornis agilis is 44 cm. |
