ON A NEW FOSSIL BIRD. 519 



21. Note on the Sternum of a large Carinate Bird from the 

 (?) Eocene of Southern Nigeria. By G. W. Andrews, 

 D.Sc, F.R.S., F.Z.S. (British Museum Nat. Hist.) *. 



[Received and Read May 23, 1916.] 



(Text-figures 1-4.) 



Index. 

 Systematic : Page 



Giffantornis eaglesomei f 523 



Steuctuee -520 



The British Museum has recently received from Nigeria two 

 small collections of vertebrate remains of great interest. The 

 first, pi-esented last year by Sir F. Lugard, G.C.M.G., was 

 obtained in a cutting on the Port Harcoiirt railway in the 

 Ombialla District, Southern Nigeria : in this the most important 

 specimens are portions of the lower jaw of a primitive Zeuglo- 

 dont, vertebrse of a ci'ocodile, and numerous remains of fishes, 

 including Gcelorhynchus and Galeocerdo latidens ; a large number 

 of Mollusca wei'e also included. The second collection was sent 

 by J. Eaglesome, Esq., C.M.G., and is from the same locality as 

 the last; it includes further remains of the Zeuglodont, part 

 of the sternum of a gigantic carinate bird, pai'ts of the carapace 

 of a leathery turtle, probably near Psephoj^horus^ and some por- 

 tions of skulls of Siluroid fishes. It is to the avian sternum 

 alone that the present paper refeis. 



The age of the beds in which these fossils occur has not yet 

 been definitely settled, but from the character of the vertebrate 

 remains it was probably Eocene, and most likely the earlier part 

 of that period. For instance, the presence of Ccdorhynchus % and 

 Galeocerdo latidens points to the Eocene age of the deposits, 

 while the primitive creodont-like condition of the teeth of the 

 Zeuglodont favours their reference to the earlier part of the 

 period. The Mollusca have not yet been examined in detail, but 

 Mr. R. B. Newton seems inclined to consider that they may 

 indicate a somewhat later horizon. 



The subject of the present note is the anterior part of the 

 sternum ; it was in two pieces, and the visceral surface was to a 

 great extent concealed by a matrix of extreme hardness, which 

 was difticult to remove. The anterior part of the keel and the 

 body of the bone nearly to the level of the posterior ends of the 



* Published by permission of tlie Trustees of the British Museum. 



t [The complete account of the new genus and species described in this communi- 

 cation appears here ; but since the name and a preliminary diagnosis were published 

 in the 'Abstract,' No. 158, 1916, the genus and species are distinguished by the 

 names being underlined. — Editoe.] 



X A. S. Woodward, Abstract Proc. Geol. See. No. 989 (1916), p. 51. 



