Extinct Birds Part 47

_Mesopteryx didinus_ Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 129 (1892).

The synonymy of this form is somewhat confused, but I think it is clear that _huttonii_ of Owen is its proper name. Professor Owen (Ext. B. p. 430) says:

"In the collection from the Glenmark Swamp, South Island, are bones that scarcely differ, save in size, from the dimensions (? W.R.) of the type bones of _Dinornis didiformis_ from the NORTH ISLAND. They are noted as of a large variety of that species." Captain Hutton remarks: "The bones that I have arranged under the name _D. didiformis_ belong probably to a new species. The tibia is well marked and quite distinct, but the femur and metatarsus, that I have a.s.sociated with it, pa.s.s almost into _D.

casuarinus_, but are rather smaller. _D. casuarinus_ is undoubtedly a good species, easily distinguished by its tibia." Possibly the _Dinornis_ of the SOUTH ISLAND, with the tibia characteristic of _D. didiformis_ of the NORTH ISLAND, may need to be noted for the convenience of naming the bones as _Dinornis huttonii_.

When describing his _D. didinus_, Professor Owen failed to recognise its ident.i.ty with his previously named _D. huttonii_, doubtless owing to the leg bones being hidden by the dry integument. This being the case, it is necessary to reinstate the name _huttonii_, as it has four years' priority over _didinus_.

Captain Hutton says that a few bones of this form have been obtained in the North Island at Poverty Bay and Te Aute; but I am convinced he is in error and that these bones are aberrant individual bones of _A. didiformis_ and that _M. huttonii_ is confined to the South or rather Middle Island. The plate of this species has been reconstructed by Mr. Lodge from the mummified remains which form the type specimen of _Didornis didinus_, and the feathers found in the alluvial sands of the CLUTHA RIVER. The type of _Dinornis didinus_ was found at Queenstown by Mr. Squires.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

Mr. C. W. Andrews, in his description of my complete skeleton of _Megalapteryx tenuipes_ has shown that Owen's type specimens of his _Dinornis didinus_ are certainly of a species of the genus _Megalapteryx_, and closely {200} allied to _M. tenuipes_. Mr. Andrews, however, throws some doubt as to whether the pelvis and femora, referred to this species by Hutton, really belong to it.

A complete egg which I consider must be of this species is preserved in the Tring Museum. Its measurements are as follows:--

Large circ.u.mference, 21.4 inches = 535 mm.

Small " 17.5 " = 437.5 mm.

This egg was dredged up on the Molyneux River, near Otago, during gold dredging operations in 1901; a second perfect egg was dredged up a few months before in the same river, and was referred by Dr. Benham to _Pachyornis ponderosus_.

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ANOMALOPTERYX REICHENBACH.

The skull is narrow and vaulted, with a long, sharp and slightly deflected beak. Breadth at the squamosals 1-1/2 times the height at basi-temporal, which has a constricted praemaxillary ridge, and the quadrate with a very small pneumatic foramen. The mandible is V-shaped, with a slight inflection of the angle, and a distinct postarticular process. The symphysis is very narrow and pointed, with a long and narrow inferior ridge, not expanding markedly at either extremity. The sternum is longer, flatter and narrower than in _Dinornis_, having no distinct xiphisternal notch, three costal articulations, long and narrow costal processes, slender lateral processes which are often elongated, and usually no coracoidal facets. The pelvis is wider and lower than in _Dinornis_, with the lower border of the postacetabular portion of the ilium descending as a sharp ridge much below the level of the sacral ribs, and without any distinct pectineal process. A hallux is present. The tibio-tarsus and tarso-metatarsus are relatively shorter and stouter than in _Dinornis_, the latter being shorter than the femur, which is usually stouter and relatively shorter than in _Megalapteryx_. The length of the tarso-metatarsus is less than half that of the tibio-tarsus. The femur, besides being usually relatively shorter is readily distinguished from that of _Dinornis_ by its more expanded extremities, the rather longer neck, and the much larger and ill-defined popliteal depression.

The vertebrae are of the general type of those of _Pachyornis_, but the anterior pneumatic foramen commences in the third dorsal. The phalangeals are intermediate between those of _Dinornis_ and _Pachyornis_. Haast considered that the coracoid was aborted and often absent in this genus, in _Emeus_, and _Pachyornis_. As additional characters of the skull it may be mentioned that there is a prominent supra-occipital protuberance, and a depression on the squamosal above the quadrate; the par-occipital processes are pointed, and the basi-occipital processes only slightly prominent; so that the posterior profile of the basi-occipital is nearly straight. The quadrate has a very short anterior process.

All the species of the genus are small, in fact _parvus_ is the smallest but one of the family.

Type of the genus: _Anomalopteryx didiformis_ (Owen).

Number of species: 4. {202}

ANOMALOPTERYX DIDIFORMIS (OWEN.)

_Dinornis didiformis_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. III, p. 242 (1844).

_Anomalopteryx didiformis_ Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. der Vog. p. 30 (1850).

_A. didiformis_ Lydekker, Cat. Fossil B. Brit. Mus., p. 275.

The present form is confined to the North Island. Owen's type was collected by the Revd. Wm. Williams, and came from Poverty Bay.

Habitat: North Island, New Zealand.

Portion of skeleton in Tring Museum.

ANOMALOPTERYX PARVUS (OWEN.)

_Dinornis parvus_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. XI, pp. 233-256, pls. LI-LVII (1883).

_Anomalopteryx didiformis_ Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 123 (1892), part.

_A. parva_ Lydekker, t.c., p. 278.

This small form is confined to the Middle Island. The type, a skeleton in almost complete condition, was dug up in a cave at Takaka, near Nelson, and is now in the British Museum. A much less perfect skeleton is in my museum at Tring.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

ANOMALOPTERYX ANTIQUUS HUTT.

_Avian Remains_ Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIII, p. 369 (1891).

_Anomalopteryx antiquus_ Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 124 (1892).

_A. antiquus_ was named by Captain Hutton from the photographs of bones described by Dr. Forbes in the above-quoted article. The evidence is very slight on which to found a species, but I prefer to treat it as one, for the bones were discovered in the Upper Miocene, a much older stratum than most remains of _Dinornithidae_ occur in.

Locality: Timaru, Middle Island, New Zealand. {203}

ANOMALOPTERYX FORTIS HUTT.

Anomalopteryx fortis Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXV, p. 9 (1893).

This is the largest of the genus, and the type bones came from Glenmark. I append comparative table of Measurements:

--------------+-------------------+------------------+------------- Tarso-metatarsus. Tibio-tarsus. Femur.

--------------+-------------------+------------------+------------- A. fortis 8.0 inches. 17.5 inches. 9.8 inches.

A. didiformis 6.3 " 13.3 " 8.0 "

A. parvus 6.3 " 13.7 " 8.5 "

Locality of Type: Glenmark.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

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