| OCR Text |
Show 1902.] OSTEOLOGY OF THE FALCONIFORMES. 303 certain Steganopodes. The resemblance is perplexing, and would seem to suggest that it is from this more primitive stock that the Falconiformes, in common with the Ciconiae, have been derived : the Ciconiine characters of the Falconiform skeleton, already alluded to, being homoplastic. On the whole, however, I feel, at present, inclined to adopt the Gruine origin of the Falconiformes, suggested by Beddard. Gathartes and Catharistes agree in that the backwar-dly produced spine of the ischium does not project far beyond the postacetabular ilium. The iliac pockets of the Cathartee are conspicuous by their absence. Text-fig. 36. n.s V" isnt for. Jd-cc. it. ,ttcet. cvn6. Crx -pt-a.. il. -il. is.r is. Dorsal aspect of the Pelvis of Gathartes aura. This is probably a more primitive type of pelvis than that of Pseudogryphus, and recalls that of Fregata or Phaethon. Note that the preacetabular ilia are widely separated, lying on either side of the broad ridge formed by the vertebral neural spines, and that the intertransverse sacral foramina are large and numerous. Additional letters. int.for.=intertransverse sacral foramina. n.s.=neural spines. W e now turn to the pelvic girdle of the Accipitres. Here |
