26 
AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 
either fossil or recent in New Zealand, but occurs in the seas of Australia [M. fiavescens 
(Yal.)J, the Macquarie Islands (see postea), and the Antarctic (J/. joubini Bloclnnann), 
and in South America. How far back into the Tertiary of Australia it extends is not 
yet exactly known, but some of the Table Cape fossils are undoubtedly true Magellcmiae. 
There are still other stocks as yet undifferentiated in the older Tertiary of South 
America and Australia. 
The position of many recent species commonly ascribed to Magellania is difficult 
to decide from the published descriptions and figures, because at the time these were 
made the characters of the beak and cardinalia were not considered of such importance 
as those of the general shape, the terminology employed in description did not lend 
itself to exactitude, and no great care was employed in depicting these characters. 
In Magellania, Stethothyris, and Neothyris the foramen is mesothyrid, while in 
Rhizothyris it is permesothyrid. The chief difference in beak characters between 
Magellania and Neothyris lies in the sharpness of the beak ridges, which are always more 
obtuse and less pronounced in Magellania. Anomia. venosa Solander is a species with 
beak characters more like those of Neothyris than Magellania. The cardinalia depicted 
by Davidson (1886, plate VIII, fig. 5) seem to be Magellaniform, but the description and 
figures of Fischer and Oehlert (1892, plate XI, fig. 16) indicate rather a Neothyroid type, 
although the cardinal process recalls that of Rhizothyris. Until the cardinalia have 
been redescribed from a modern standpoint, this species is best left in Magellania sensu 
lato .* Terebratula fontainei d’Orbingy has much external resemblance to Neothyris 
ovalis, but I have been unable to glean anything about its type of cardinalia in the 
literature available to me. As it is regarded by some as a synonym of Magellania 
venosa, it is also temporarily placed in Magellania sensu lato. 
Waldheimia Jcerguelensis Davidson possesses cardinalia which from Davidson’s 
figures (1880, plate III, figs. 8, 9; 1886, plate X, figs. 16, 17) are neither Magellaniform 
nor Neothyroid, but recall in the simple unbifurcated septum those of Rhizothyris. 
The figures for the most part indicate a mesothyrid foramen, but in one (1886, plate X,. 
fig. 8) the foramen appears to be permesothyrid. There is thus uncertainty as to 
whether this species is referable to Rhizothyris or belongs to a distinct stock. The 
Kerguelen specimen figured by Eichler (1911, Taf. XLII, figs. 7, a, b, c; Taf. XLIII, 
fig. 16) has a submesotliyrid foramen and apparently Magellaniform cardinalia, and 
appears to be the young of a quite distinct species, probably a true Magellania. Until 
a better specimen is forthcoming to serve as a type, it is not desirable to rename it. 
The cardinalia of Magellania frag ills Smith have not been described or figured, so that 
it is impossible to place the species. In general, however, the shell of Magellania is 
more fragile than that of Neothyris or Rhizothyris. Finally Waldheimia wyvillei 
Davidson is a species whose cardinalia as figured by Davidson (1880, plate III, fig. 
13b; 1886, plate X, fig. 6) do not agree with any of the known types. 
* The examination of specimens recently received indicates that the cardinalia are Magellaniform, but the foramen 
js becoming permesothyrid (January, 1918). 
