A Pictorial Atlas of Fossil Remains, consisting of coloured illustrations selected from Parkinson's "Organic remains of a former world," and Artis's "Antediluvian phytology."

by Gideon Algernon Mantell

TARSO-METATARSAL BONES.

	Inches.	Lines.
Length of the shaft from the distal end of the middle trochlea to the proximal extremity	17	0
Circumference of the proximal end	11	9
Transverse diameter, or width, of ditto	4	6
Antero-posterior diameter of ditto	3	6
Circumference of the middle of the shaft	6	3
Antero-posterior diameter of ditto	1	8
Transverse diameter of ditto	3	6
Width of the distal, or trochlear, end	6	3
Circumference of the trochlear end	15	6
Antero-posterior diameter of the middle trochlea	3	9

PHALANGEAL BONES.

			Inner Toe. (Fig. 1.)			Middle Toe. (Fig. 2.)			Outer Toe. (Fig. 3.)
			Inches.	Lines.		Inches.	Lines.		Inches.	Lines.
First, or proximal phalanx	{	Length	4	9	—	4	3	—	3	2
		Circumference of proximal end	6	6	—	6	9	—	5	9
Second phalangeal bone.	{	Length	1	9	—	2	6	—	1	9
		Circumference of proximal end	3	0	—	5	3	—	4	9
Third phalangeal bone	{	Length	Ungueal. { 3 0 } 4 0		—	1	9	—	1	0
		Circumference of proximal end			—	4	6	—	4	6
Third phalangeal bone	{	Length				Ungueal. { 3 0 } 4 2		—	0	11
		Circumference of proximal end						—	4	0
Fifth ungueal bone	{	Length							2	6
		Circumference of proximal end							3	9

The total length of the toes is as follows:—inner digit, 9½ inch.; middle, 11½ inch.; outer, 9¹/₃ inch. The transverse diameter of the expanse of the foot, from the distal extremity of the inner toe (fig. 1^a), to that of the outer one (fig. 3^a), is 15½ inches. The length from the posterior part of the trochlear extremity of the metatarsal to the distal end of the ungueal of the middle toe (fig. 2^a), is 13 inches. If to the actual dimensions of the bones be added the proportional thickness of the cartilaginous integuments, nails, &c., the length of the foot of the living bird may be estimated at about 16 inches, and the breadth at 17 or 18 inches.

From the great width and solidity of the metatarsals, and the form and corresponding size and strength of the phalangeals and ungueals, the ornithologist will perceive that the feet of the Moa must have constituted powerful instruments for scratching, digging, and uprooting the sub-terrestrial vegetable substances, which Professor Owen, with great probability, infers, formed the chief sustenance of the extinct colossal birds of New Zealand.

According to the relative proportions of the bones composing the hinder extremities of the gigantic species of Moa, the corresponding tibia, or leg-bone, of the feet above described, would be two feet nine inches in length, and the femur, or thigh bone, nine and a half inches; the total height of the bird was probably about ten feet.

Tibiæ, femora, and other bones of much larger proportions, (apparently of Dinornis giganteus and D. ingens,) were obtained from the same locality; some of these indicate birds of eleven or twelve feet in height; dimensions exceeding by one-third those of the largest known existing species of Struthionidæ—the Ostrich.[2]

[2] Even from this imperfect description (and further anatomical details would be irrelevant in the present work), the ornithologist cannot fail to observe the peculiar characters exhibited by these extremities of the remarkable family of birds, of which the diminutive Apteryx appears to be the only living representative. But the Apteryx differs most essentially in the structure of the cranium and mandibles, from the extinct types to which Professor Owen has given the names of Dinornis, Palapteryx, Aptornis, &c.