OCR Text |
Show 1903.] OSTRICH FROM THE ISLAND OF SAMOS. 207 The pelvis at my disposal is represented only by a fragment from the last presacral to the third postsacral vertebra (6 vertebra?, the first and the last incomplete), and in connection with it the corresponding parts of the ilia, i.e. the acetabular and immediately postacetabular region. The ace tab da themselves are not entirely preserved, but only the caudal border of that on the left is quite intact, and the antitrochanter is broken away on both sides, so that on the left side only its outlines can be determined. Text-fig. 34. Lateral view of the pelvis of Struthio karatheodoris. ^ nat. size. In the principal and most characteristic features, the fossil does not differ from S. camelus, and there can be no doubt that the ratite bird of Samos belonged to the same genus. In the following features the fossil pelvis agrees with or differs from that of the recent Struthio :- i. The pelvis is compressed from both sides in the same manner as in Struthio camelus (though the compression is a little less marked), so that the dorsal aspect of it is much as in the recent form. ii. The sacral vertebrce of the fossil are much stouter. The same irregular sculptures occur, forming rough longitudinal ridges. iii. The centra of the two " true sacral vertebrce " are, compared with the following centra, narrower, but better rounded than in the recent Ostrich. iv. The acetabidum has quite the same position as in S. camelus. v. The plane between the ventral border of the antitrochanter and the dorsal edge of the foramen obturatorium is-in comparison with S. camelus-turned forward, i. e. it slopes more rapidly towards the acetabulum. vi. The outlines of the antitrochanter are just as in S. camelus, and its size is also the same. vii. The ilia of the fossil and the recent Ostrich are closely similar. There is no difference in the dorsal view of the pelvis exceeding possible individual variation. The vertical P r o c . Z o o l . S o c .- 1903, V o l . I. No. X IV. 14 |