NO. II CLASSIFICATION, BIRDS OF THE WORLD — WETMORE II 



Edwards in his important later work [1868, p. 58] used the form 

 Paloelodus.) 



Howard (1955, pp. 3-23) has described a still different form of 

 the flamingo group as Telmabates antiquus from the lower Eocene 

 (Casamayor formation) of Chubut in Patagonia. While this species 

 resembles the Palaelodidae in shortness and other details of form in 

 the leg, it may prove to be representative of a separate family on 

 characters found in the vertebrae and wing, as suggested in the 

 original description. It is regarded for the present as of subfamily 

 status in the Palaelodidae. 



Suborder Cathartae. — The superfamily Neocathartoidea, and family 

 Neocathartidae, for the curious vulture Neocathartes grallator (Wet- 

 more), discovered in the Upper Eocene fossil beds of Wyoming, in- 

 troduced a new element in our known avifauna in the form of a 

 small-winged, strong-legged vulture that evidently was terrestrial with 

 limited powers of flight. It had about the same relation to the other 

 American vultures that the secretarybird has to the hawks and falcons. 

 Its inclusion also requires a separate superfamily, the Cathartoidea, 

 for the previously known cathartine families. 



Galliformes. — The Numididae, which have been placed by some as 

 a subfamily of the Phasianidae, differ in completely lacking the 

 tuberosity or plate on the inner side of the second metacarpal that is 

 so prominent in pheasants and grouse. It should be recorded, however, 

 that Hudson, Lanzilloti, and Edwards (1959, p. 64) note that Numida 

 shows no peculiarities in the leg musculature when compared with the 

 Phasianidae. The Tetraonidae, in contrast with the Phasianidae, have 

 the pelvis relatively much broader and different in proportion, and 

 the tarsus relatively shorter in relation to the length of the tibiotarsus. 

 With these differences in mind it seems reasonable to retain the three 

 groups in family status, at least until more detailed knowledge of their 

 anatomy as a whole warrants change. 



Gruiformes. — In the Turnices the two genera of bustardquails, 

 Titrnix and Ortyxelus, have no hind toe, the wing is eutaxic, only the 

 left carotid is present, and the eggs are rounded oval. The plain- 

 wanderer of Australia, Pedionomns, has a small hind toe, the wing is 

 diastataxic, right and left carotids are found, and the large eggs are 

 pyriform. It seems desirable to continue these as separate families, 

 rather than as subfamilies of one group, an arrangement that Strese- 

 mann (1933, p. 760) has accepted. 



It has long been known that Mesites Geoffroy for the curious 

 roatelos of Madagascar is antedated by the same name used by Schon- 

 herr for a group of beetles. It has been in error, however, to replace 



