SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I45 



size of Plegadis, or less). Outline of distal end of the humerus 

 (fig. i) somewhat similar to that of species of the family Threskior- 



FlG. I.- 



-Typc of Plccjadornis antecessor from the Upper Cretaceous of Alabama. 

 Natural size. 



nithidae, hut with the ectepicondyle elevated above the level of the 

 internal condyle at a slightly greater angle ; attachment of anterior 

 articular ligament relatively much larger ; internal condyle relatively 

 longer and slightly narrower ; external condyle slightly less angular 

 on upper end, with more separation from the ectepicondyle on its 

 outer margin; the ectepicondyle much larger, so that one-fourth of 

 its length extends up the shaft above the level of the upper end of 

 the external condyle ; brachial depression large and only slightly 

 depressed; a slight expansion from the side of the shaft at the lower 

 end of the deltoid crest, below the actual articular area, like that in 

 modern species of Threskiornithidae, particularly of the subfamily 

 Plataleinae. 



Transverse breadth across distal end 10.5 mm. ; transverse breadth 

 of shaft near center 4.9 mm. 



Type. — Distal end of left humerus, with part of the shaft from 

 the upper end, U.S.N.M. No. 22820, from the Mooreville formation 

 of the Selma chalk, Upper Cretaceous, 3 miles northeast of Boligee, 

 Greene County, Ala., collected by Shelton P. Applegate about June 

 20, 1958. 



Remarks. — The important part of the specimen is the distal end, 

 which is somewhat worn, but where sufficient character is present to 

 allow indication of relationship. The upper segment shows a trace 

 of the curvature characteristic of the suborder in which it is allo- 

 cated, and an indication of the form at the extreme lower end of the 

 deltoid crest, but has lost other details. A section of the shaft between 

 the upper and lo\v'cr portions is missing. 



