270 



AVES 



The wings and pectoral arch extremely rudimentary or absent. Beak 

 short and slightly deflected. Hind limbs in most species exceptionally 

 massive. Femur usually without pneumatic foramina. Tibio-tarsus with 

 bony bridge over the groove for extensor tendons. Hallux sometimes present 

 in -addition to the three iisual digits. 



The " Moas " are birds of large or gigantic size, and of exceptionally 

 massive build, which existed in New Zealand in great abundance and variety 



during the late Tertiary, and became 

 extinct only in comparatively modern 

 times. Their charred bones and egg- 

 shells occur in the refuse heaps of the 

 Maoris, and large numbers of bones or 

 occasionally complete skeletons have 

 been found, especially in swamps. A 

 few specimens have been found in 



Fig. 372. 

 Palaptcrijx eh'phantoiii(s, Owen sp. Pleistocene ; New Zealand. 



/i8 (after Owen). 



caves with some of the ligaments and portions of the integument preserved. 

 No remains are known older than the Pliocene. The plumage, so far as 

 known, resembles that of emeus and cassowaries. 



Dinornis, Owen. Beak relatively wide and pointed, temporal fossae large. 

 About twenty vertebrae present in cervical and sacral regions respectively. 

 Sternum about as long as broad, very convex, with small coracoidal 

 facettes, three costal facettes on each side, widely divergent latei'al jDrocesses, 

 and a xiphi-sternal notch. Scapulo-coracoid element without glenoid cavity 

 for the humerus. Pelvis narrow, with elevated ilium. Femur comparatively 



