OCR Text |
Show 786 PROF. BALDWIN SPENCER ON A [Nov. 20, groove there is in the fossil is only as broad as the deep depression which lies between the condyles posteriorly ; starting from this it runs m a slanting direction towards the external side, separating a larger internal rounded eminence from a smaller external one', Fig. 1. Wynyardia bassiana. Fig. 1. -Portion of right femur. Fig. 2.-The same. Upper ex- Nat, size. tremity, from above. Nat. size. The total length of tbe femur is 107 mm.; the least width, in the centre, is 10 m m . ; the greatest width, immediately below the condyle, is 22 m m . Some idea of the relative length of the femur in regard to that of existing marsupials may be gathered from the following list, which represents the length of the femur in proportion to that of the skull in the species named, calculating the length of the skull in each case as 10U, that is equal to that of the fossil:-Trichosurus fuliginosus 119-5; Dasyurus maculatus 95*8 ; Pseudochirus herbertensis 93*8; P. archeri 100*8 ; Sarcophilus ursinus 107*6 ; Bettongia penicillata 142*7; Phascolarctos 112-5; Didelphys marsupialis 8 0 9 ; Phalanger sp. 89-5 ; Phascolomys 1 This groove is too strongly marked in fig. 11, PI. L. ; and its depth is shown where it is seen in profile at the extremity of the bone. |