_Megalapteryx tenuipes_ Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Birds Brit. Mus. p. 251
(1891).
This species was described from the tibio-tarsus, which is longer and
relatively more slender than in _M. hectori_. Its distal width is about
one-ninth of its length, while in _M. hectori_ it is about one-seventh. The
length of the tibio-tarsus is approximately 0.405 mm. = 16 inches, and
width of distal extremity about 0.044 = 1.74 inches. Type specimens Nos.
49989 and 49990, British Museum.
Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand, and perhaps North Island. (Type
locality Lake Wakatipa, Queenstown, Otago.)
Complete skeleton in the Tring Museum.
Mr. Lydekker mentions also a right femur from the North Island, of the same
proportions as those of _M. tenuipes_ and 0.255 m. (= 10.1 inches) long. It
may probably belong to a different form, as we know _M. tenuipes_ otherwise
only from the Middle Island. {199}