122 PROCEEDINGS OF WASHINGTON MEETING. 



after the decay of the animal, showing it ("have been about eighl or nine feet long. They created 

 considerable interest among the people in the neighborhood, but no oqi iM give even a reason- 

 able conjecture as to the kind of animal. Tl ther bones (those of the skeleton not in the box) 



were decayed or crumbled immediately after being exposed to the air." 



The bones were found to be those of Megalonyx. They were purchased from 

 Mr. Denton and are now the property of Vanderbilt University, at Nashville. 



Tjie first known Pelvis of Megalonyx. 



Especial interest is attached to these bones, as the lot includes, fairly well pre- 

 served, the major part of the pelvis of the animal — enough of it, indeed, to give a 

 good idea of the character and general form of the part, which, it appears, has 

 heretofore been unknown. Mr. E. W. Claypole, in a full and very satisfactory 

 article on Megalonyx and allied forms, published this year in the February and 

 March numbers of the American Geologist, makes the statement that " no pelvis 

 has yet been found, with the exception of a fragment or two." From this I infer 

 that the specimens now presented will be new to paleontologists. 



The parts of the pelvis found are : 



The two ilia. 



Right pubis (a portion). 



Right ischium (a portion). 



The five sacral vertebrae (some broken). 



The ilia are broad and fan-shaped. Their thickened margins, like parts of 

 nearly all the bones of the collection, are to some extent gnawed by some small 

 animal, probably a rodent. The portions of the pubis and ischium, when fitted 

 in place to the right ilium, reconstruct well the right acetabulum, showing both its 

 form and dimensions. The general form of the pelvis of the MegtUony x, as indi- 

 cated by these specimens, recalls strongly that of Megatherium. There lias been no 

 opportunity, however, for any detailed comparisons. 



Other Bones of the Collection. 



The bones of Megalonyx associated with the pelvis are as follows : 



The skull. 



Fragment of a rib. 



Right humerus. 



Right scapula (most of it). 



Left tibia. 



Seventeen vertebra? (including the sacral). 



Fragments not determinable. 



These bones are in various degrees of preservation. Some have lost one or more 

 epiphyses. On some, portions of cartilage and tendons still remain. The animal 

 to which they belonged was doubtless young. 



It is not my purpose to describe the individual hones. I only add a note as to 

 the skull: Its length, from the occipital condyles to the anterior margin of the first 

 molar alveoli, is 13 inches and :; lines, a length the same as that of the specimen 

 from Natchez, Mississippi, referred to by Dr. Leidy in his memoir on the extinct 

 sloths in the Smithsonian Contributions, published in 1853. The teeth are entirely 



