﻿Extinct 
  Giant 
  Birds 
  of 
  Argentina. 
  41 
  

  

  the 
  Pleistocene 
  to 
  the 
  Lower 
  Eocene, 
  inclusive. 
  Personally, 
  

   however, 
  I 
  have 
  considerable 
  doubts 
  whether 
  the 
  inferior 
  

   beds 
  are 
  really 
  as 
  old 
  as 
  the 
  Lower 
  Eocene, 
  although 
  they 
  

   contain 
  certain 
  mammalian 
  groups 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  closely 
  

   allied 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  European 
  Eocene 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  

   admitted, 
  in 
  any 
  case, 
  that 
  they 
  occupy 
  a 
  position 
  some 
  con- 
  

   siderable 
  way 
  down 
  in 
  the 
  Tertiary 
  series. 
  

  

  Now 
  it 
  is 
  from 
  these 
  lowest 
  beds 
  that 
  there 
  have 
  lately 
  

   been 
  brought 
  to 
  light 
  the 
  fine 
  series 
  of 
  remains 
  of 
  giant 
  

   extinct 
  birds 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  described 
  by 
  Seilores 
  

   Ameghino, 
  Mercerat, 
  and 
  Moreno 
  in 
  the 
  memoirs 
  cited 
  

   below 
  ■^. 
  With 
  that 
  peculiarly 
  unfortunate 
  fatality 
  which 
  

   appears 
  to 
  be 
  inseparable 
  from 
  vertebrate 
  palseontology 
  

   in 
  Argentina, 
  these 
  fossil 
  birds 
  have, 
  however, 
  already 
  

   become 
  involved 
  in 
  a 
  labyrinth 
  of 
  confusion 
  and 
  puzzling 
  

   synonymy, 
  comparable 
  to 
  that 
  which 
  renders 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  

   the 
  fossil 
  mammals 
  of 
  those 
  regions 
  so 
  disheartening 
  and 
  

   repulsive 
  to 
  the 
  European 
  student. 
  

  

  The 
  mischief 
  began 
  by 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  these 
  remains 
  being 
  

   described 
  by 
  Professor 
  Ameghino 
  in 
  1887 
  as 
  mammalian, 
  

   under 
  the 
  uncouth 
  name 
  of 
  Phorusrhacos 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  

   till 
  1891 
  that 
  its 
  describer 
  found 
  out 
  that 
  the 
  presumed 
  

   Edentate 
  jaw 
  was 
  in 
  reality 
  part 
  of 
  an 
  Avian 
  mandible. 
  

   In 
  referring 
  this 
  jaw 
  (which 
  is 
  figured, 
  p. 
  42, 
  reduced 
  

   from 
  the 
  original 
  given 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Ameghino) 
  to 
  a 
  bird. 
  

   Prof. 
  Ameghino 
  took 
  the 
  opportunity 
  of 
  describing 
  part 
  

   of 
  a 
  cranium 
  and 
  some 
  limb-bones 
  belonging 
  either 
  to 
  the 
  

   same 
  or 
  a 
  closely 
  allied 
  bird, 
  also 
  of 
  amending 
  the 
  name 
  

   to 
  Phororhavos 
  f 
  ; 
  which 
  term, 
  it 
  is 
  quite 
  evident, 
  in 
  spite 
  

   of 
  its 
  uncouthness, 
  is 
  the 
  one 
  which 
  must 
  stand 
  for 
  the 
  

  

  * 
  Ameghino, 
  C. 
  "Aves 
  fusiles 
  Argentioas," 
  i?fi;/s;'. 
  Argoit. 
  Hist. 
  

   Nat. 
  vol. 
  i. 
  pp. 
  255-259 
  (1891). 
  

  

  . 
  " 
  Enumeracion 
  de 
  las 
  Aves 
  tosiles 
  de 
  la 
  Republica 
  Argentina," 
  

  

  ibid. 
  pp. 
  441-453. 
  

   MoEENO, 
  F., 
  and 
  Mercerat, 
  A. 
  "Los 
  Pajaros 
  fosiles 
  de 
  la 
  

   Repiiblica 
  Argentina," 
  An. 
  Mus. 
  La 
  Plata, 
  vol. 
  i., 
  plate.s 
  

   (1891). 
  

   t 
  [We 
  might 
  suggest 
  its 
  further 
  emendation 
  to 
  Phororhacis, 
  its 
  deri- 
  

   vation 
  being, 
  we 
  suppose, 
  (f)opeo) 
  aud 
  puKis, 
  a 
  branch. 
  — 
  Ed.] 
  

  

  