Dr. Forbes founded this genus of _Dinornithidae_ on remains of Moas of
three distinct sizes as regards femora collected by him at Manitoto. Dr.
Forbes has kindly placed these bones at my disposal, and the following
summarises the results of my examination. I find that Dr. Forbes' original
idea as to the distinctness of _Palaeocasuarius_ is perfectly justified, as
not only are his characters of the tibio-tarsus, as opposed to those in the
other genera, correct, but the proportions between femur, tibio-tarsus and
tarso-metatarsus are quite different to those of other genera. I give the
proportions of the three bones in _Palaeocasuarius elegans_, _Megalapteryx
tenuipes_, and _Pachyornis elephantopus_, which are the three most nearly
allied genera:
------------------------+---------------+--------------+---------------
| Pal. elegans. | M. tenuipes. | Pach.
| | | elephantopus.
------------------------+---------------+--------------+---------------
Femur, length | 10-5/8 inches | 11 inches | 12 inches
Width over condyles | 3½ " | 3½ " | 5 "
Tibio-tarsus, length | 16 " | 15½ " | 33 "
Width at distal end | 2 " | 2¼ " | 3½ "
Tarso-metatarsus, length| 7 " | 6 " | 9 "
Width at centre | 1½ " | 1¼ " | 2¼ "
------------------------+---------------+--------------+---------------
The original diagnosis was as follows, being founded on the tibio-tarsus:
"The tibio-tarsus differs from that of all other genera in being straighter
and less twisted on itself, so that the position of the ridge forming the
inner wall of the groove for the tendons of the extensor muscles run along
the inner side of the bone as in _Casuarius_. As in the latter genus it
takes a marked turn inwards and backwards before joining the epicnemial
crest, while a line joining the centre point between the distal condyles
and the epicnemial ridge leaves a considerable space between it and the
wall of the groove. There is no intercondylar eminence in the intercondylar
channel, and the orifice of the extensor foramen opens more longitudinally
than in the other genera, and points downwards."
Type of the genus: _Palaeocasuarius haasti_ Forbes.
Number of species: 3.
In the following descriptions of the three species I only rely on the
measurements of the femora, as not all the other leg bones of the three
species are available. {220}