VERTEBRATA: AVES. 599 



remains of Cur sores have, however, been found in the Post- 

 Tertiary deposits of the southern hemisphere, and more espe- 

 cially in New Zealand. In this island have been found the 

 remains of a number of large wingless birds, which form the 

 family of the Dinornithida, of which Dinornis (fig. 331) itself 

 is the most important genus. All the members of this group 

 (Dinornis, Palapteryx, &c.) are large Cursorial birds, the wings 

 being useless for flight, and furnished with a rudimentary hume- 





Fig. 331. Skeleton of Dinornis elephantopus, greatly reduced. Post-Pliocene. 

 New Zealand. (After Owen.) 



rus. The hallux is wanting (Dinornis} or present (Palapteryx). 

 The largest species is the Dinornis giganteus, one of the most 

 gigantic of living or fossil birds, the tibia measuring a yard in 

 length, and the total height being at least ten feet. Another 

 species, the Dinornis elephantopus (fig. 331), though not stand- 



