HuTTON.— Ow Moa-skulls. 561 



Akt. lAl.—On Two Moa-skulls in the Canterbury Museum. 



By Captain F. W. Hutton, F.R.S., Curator. 



[Read before the Philosophical Instittite of Canterbxirv, 6th Mav 



1896.] ^' 



The publication in the thirteenth volume of the " Trans- 

 actions of the Zoological Society of London " of the valuable 

 paper by Professor T. J. Parker, F.E.S., "On the Cranial 

 Osteology of the Dmornithidge," has enabled me to offer de- 

 scriptions of two rare moa-skulls in the Canterbury Museum, 

 which differ much from any of those described in Professor 

 Parker's paper. In neither case is it quite certain to which 

 species these skulls should be referred; but, as each was 

 found in association with a very limited number of bones, the 

 specific names attached to them are probably correct. ' In 

 describing them I have followed the terminology and measure- 

 ments employed by Professor Parker. 



Megalapteryx tenuipes. 



The first skull is a much-damaged cranium which was 

 found in a limestone cave on the Lower Buller Eiver, together 

 with bones of Megalapteryx tenuipes and Anomalornis parvus 

 As the skull of the latter is well known, it follows that one 

 under review belongs, almost certainly, to the former species, 

 and this is borne out by an examination of the specimen,' 

 which, although fragmentary, presents characters not found 

 in any described genus. It is the specimen mentioned by 

 Professor Parker in a foot-note on page 378 of his memoir. 



The occipital foramen is very large, and its plane about 

 vertical ; the crest is large, as in Meiomrnis. The occipital 

 condyle projects considerably beyond the crest, and beyond 

 the par-occipital processes, which are short and rounded below ; 

 the supra- foraminal ridge is not continued on them. The 

 cranial roof is much arched, but it is so worn away that an 

 exact description cannot be given; however, the temporal 

 fossae appear to resemble those of Meionornis, and there is a 

 flat area between the temporal and lambdoidal ridges. The 

 former of these is very slightly marked. The inferior temporal 

 ridge IS well marked, and the post-temporal fossa is moderate, 

 being broader than in Meionornis and narrower than in Am- 

 malornis. The roof of the orbital cavity is very flat, and is 

 not separated by any sharp ridge from the temporal fossa— a 

 character by which this skull can be readily recognised from 

 any other as yet described ; but there is a slight indication of 

 the groove found in Anomalornis. The lower margin of the 

 optic foramen is a sharp, straight shelf of bone, both it and 

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