437 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Observations on the Zoological Characters and Natural Affinities of 

 ^pyornis. By MM. A. Milne-Edwards and A. Gkandidier. 



M. A. Graxdidter has made some excavations in marshy ground 

 at Amboulitsate in Madagascar, and obtained bones of ^pyornis. 

 These bones are : — 1st, a perfect tibia and several fragments of that 

 bone ; 2nd, a nearly complete femur ; 3rd, two vertebrae ; 4th, a 

 tolerably well preserved femur and fragments of the same bone 

 belonging to smaller individuals of yEfnjornis ; and, 5th, a very im- 

 perfect femur belonging to a still smaller specimen. The authors 

 notice briefly the peculiarities presented by these bones. 



The tibia is enormous, and has its articular extremities singularly 

 enlarged. Its length is 64 centimetres, the circumference of its 

 upper extremity 45 centimetres, and that of its inferior 38, the 

 body of the bone in its most contracted portion being only 15 1 cen- 

 timetres round. The characters of the bone prove at once that it 

 belonged to a bii-d of the brevipennate order. It diffei's from the 

 tibia of Dinornis and Palaptenjx in having no osseous bridge over 

 the groove of the extensor muscle of the toes, in this respect agree- 

 ing "with the existing Brevipennes ; but the general proportions of 

 the bone are quite dift'erent. The tibia is more massive than even 

 that of Dinornis ele])hantoj)us. 



The largest femur found at Amboulitsate seems to agree, in the 

 dimensions of its articular surface, wdth the tibia just mentioned. 

 The proportions of this bone are very singular ; its thickness is ex- 

 traordinary, whilst in length it does not measure one-half more 

 than its lower extremity. Behind and above the condyles there is 

 an enormous pit, into which open large orifices for the admission of 

 air into the interior of the bone. These orifices are absent in 

 Apteryx and Dinornis. 



A fragmentary tarso-raetatarsal bone has been received by the 

 Museum of Paris from M. Lienard since the publication of the 

 observations of M. Geoftroy St.-TIilaire. The authors state that 

 this bone shows a remarkable wndeiiing, combined with a very dis- 

 tinct flattening, in an antero-posterior direction. The width of the 

 diaphysis at its narrowest point is 8 centims., whilst in Dinornis 

 giyanteus the width of this part is only 5^ centims. As the last- 

 named species attained a height of 3 metres, it was concluded, 

 from this difference in the tarso-metatarsus, that ^pyornis must 

 have been at least 360 metres in height. This measurement, 

 however, is deceptive as a basis for calculating the size of the animal. 

 At the upper extremity of the tarso-metatarsus arc the two furrows 

 Avhich indicate the original separation of the three elements of the 

 metatarsus ; and as these occur only immediately below the articular 

 extremit)-, the bone must be very nearly complete. Its length 

 could not have exceeded 3S centims. The investigation of this bone 

 is considered by the authors to show the alliance of yEpj/ornis to 

 Dinornix ; and they entirely reject M. Bianconi's opinion that 



