Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 1895 [electronic resource]

Art. LXVI.—On the Moa-bones from Enfield.

By Captain F. W. Hutton, F.R.S., Curator of the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch.

[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 7th August, 1895.]

The mode of occurrence of the bones found in August, 1891, at Enfield, near Oamaru, has already been described by Dr. H. O. Forbes in Nature for March, 1892. They were imbedded in peat in a small swampy gully which runs across field to join a stream which falls into the Waireka River. In the winter of 1891 Mr. Meek, the owner, determined to bring this swampy gully into cultivation, and the bones were found when ploughing it.

In addition to the moas, bones of several carinate birds were found, mention of which is made by Dr. Forbes in the paper already referred to, and also in the Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxiv., p. 188, &c. These remains were taken to England lay Dr. Forbes, and I am not aware of any description having been published of them.

In June, 1892, I made a preliminary examination of the moa-bones remaining in the Museum, as I had, at once, to make up some exchanges promised by my predecessor, and I read a paper to the Institute giving the results of that examination, at the same time saying that it was far from completed.^* Since then I have had time to measure and compare all the bones in the collection, and I wish to place on record the results of my measurements, so that they can be compared with those of the bones at Kapua. It will be seen that there are many points of difference between the bones of the two localities; and this might have been expected. If the different species of moas have been gradually developed, their sizes must have differed at different periods; and, as there are geological reasons for thinking that the Enfield bones are of a later date than those from Kapua, it follows that the differences probably show the directions in which the species developed during the interval.

After rejecting bones of young birds and others which were too imperfect for measurement, I had 1,031 leg-bones left, made up as follows :—

[Footnote] * “New Species of Moas”: Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxv., p. 6.

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—	Metatarsi.	Tibiæ.	Femora.	Skulls.	Sterna.	Pelves.
Dinornis	34	17	23	5	4	6
Meionornis	193	200	200	52	34	21
Euryapteryx	94	43	106	8	5	6
Pachyornis	47	36	38	9	2	2
Totals	368	296	367	74	45	35

The chief characteristic of the collection is the great number of bones of Meionornis didinus, one-third of the whole belonging to that species.

Dinornis maximus.

Metatarsi, 11; tibiæ, 7; femora, 5; may be referred to this species. The largest metatarsus was 19.5in. in length, with a width of 2.5in. at the middle of the shaft; but there was no tibia nor femur to match it. Indeed, the femora appear to be smaller than those from Kapua, but the number is top few to base any well-founded opinion on.

Dinornis robustus.

Metatarsi, 4; tibiæ, 3; femora, 3. These bones are too few to base any conclusions on; but it does not appear to have been clearly marked off from the last species.

Dinornis torosus.

Metatarsi, 19; tibiæ, 7; femora, 15. This species is very distinct from the last—more so even than at Kapua. The number of bones is not large; but they show a concentration round a single focus with each bone, and no separation into two sizes which might belong to the two sexes. This is a satisfactory corroboration of the result arrived at by an examination of the Kapua bones, and ought to set the question of the different sizes of the sexes in Dinornis at rest for ever.

Meionornis casuarinus.

Metatarsi, 74; tibiæ, 64; femora, 78. The same difficulty exists as at Kapua in separating the leg-bones of this species from those of E. crassa. The metatarsus is the same size as at Kapua, but the tibia and femur are rather larger. The numbers are, I think, quite sufficient to establish this point satisfactorily.

Meionornis didinus.

Metatarsi, 119; tibiæ, 136; femora, 122. The tibia is very well separated, and the other two bones, although showing

connecting-links with M. casuarinus, have well-marked concentration foci of their own, showing clearly that it is distinct from that species. Compared with the same species from Kapua, the metatarsus and the femur are the same, but the tibia is distinctly larger. There can be no hesitation in accepting this result, as the data are ample.

In my former paper, already referred to, I placed a few bones doubtfully under the name of P. pygmæus. These, however, do not belong to Pachyornis, but lie on the borderland between M. didinus and E. gravis. On the whole, I have concluded that they are a variety of the former, and I have included them here. They consist of—metatarsi, 5; tibiæ, 4; femora, 4. Possibly they are hybrids between the two species.

Euryapteryx crassa.

Metatarsi, 58; tibiæ, 17; femora, 68. This species was, comparatively, less numerous than at Kapua. The tibia is larger, but the metatarsus and femur are the same.

Euryapteryx ponderosa.

Metatarsi, 16; tibiæ, 14; femora, 28. These numbers are too small to give any results of value, but the bird appears to have been rather smaller and more slender than at Kapua.

Euryapteryx gravis.

Metatarsi, 20; tibiæ, 12; femora, 10. So far as these numbers allow us to form an opinion, it would seem that the tibia is considerably larger, while the femur is slightly smaller.

Pachyornis immanis.

Metatarsi, 7; tibiæ, 4; femora, 7. The numbers are small. The tibiæ are all of large size, and none of them shows the curvature of the shaft which is so remarkable in the bones from Kapua and Hamilton. Two of the femora are larger than any found at Kapua. The average is larger because no small bones were found.

Pachyornis elephantopus.

Metatarsi, 21; tibiæ, 17; femora, 15. There is in this species a most remarkable development in length without the great thickness characteristic of P. immanis. The metatarsi reach a length of 267mm.; the tibiæ, 622mm.; and the femora, 368mm., which are considerably greater than the largest from Kapua. The average, however, is smaller.

Pachyornis inhabilis.

Metatarsi, 19; tibiæ, 15; femora, 16. This species is far better represented than at Kapua—its numbers being nearly equal to those of P. elephantopus—and it appears to be distinctly smaller. However, it must be remembered that the bones found at Kapua were too few in number to afford a reliable comparison. The following are the measurements of the smallest specimen :—

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—	Length.	Proximal Width.	Middle Width.	Distal Width.
Metatarsus	185	81	48	106
Tibia	431	137	38	66
Femur	270	99	40	117

All the bones, especially the metatarsus, are well marked off from those of P. elephantopus.

Leg-Bones from Enfield.

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Average Measurements, in Millimetres.
—		Metatarsus.				Tibia.				Femur.
	Length.	Proximal Width.	Middle Width.	Distal Width.	Length.	Proximal Width.	Middle Width.	Distal Width	Length.	Proximal Width.	Middle Width.	Distal Width.
Dinornis maximus	457	122	55	165	800	165	63	119	394	152	60	165
" robustus	419	119	53	147	736	152	58	106	345	140	58	152
" torosus	305	91	40	119	610	147	43	84	305	107	48	122
Meionornis casuarinus	215	81	46	96	490	134	44	71	286	106	43	120
" didinus	190	68	38	86	400	109	37	58	240	86	35	95
Euryapteryx ponderosa	222	94	55	109	508	157	53	79	292	119	50	134
" crassa	216	84	49	106	482	142	48	71	285	110	47	127
" gravis	190	76	46	96	444	134	44	70	247	102	44	104
Pachyornis immanis	241	110	66	138	584	180	60	94	320	134	60	160
" elepbantopus	228	94	58	122	533	148	50	76	305	127	58	147
" inhabilis	203	86	52	112	480	140	44	76	280	104	50	124

Leg-Bones from Enfield.

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Dinornis.
					Mid-width of Shaft in Inches.
	Length.	2.6	2.5	2.4	2.3	2.2	2.1	2.0	1.9	1.8	1.7	1.6	1.5	1.4
	33		2a
	32
	31		3a		2a
	30
	29			1b	1b
	28						1b
Tibia.	27
	26
	25										1c
	24									1c	4c
	23								1c
	16			1a	1a
	15			2a		1a
	14	1b			1b
	13				1b				2c
	12							2c	4c	5c				Femur.
	11								1c	1c
	19		1a				1a
	18					2a		1a
	17				2a		3a	1a
	16							1b	1b
	15								2b
	14
	13									1c	2c			Metatarsus.
	12										2c	8c	4c
	11											1c	1c

a.	Dinornis maximus.
b.	" robustus.
c.	" torosus.

Leg-Bones from Enfield.

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Pachyorns.
					Mid-width of Shaft in Inches.
Length	2.8	2.7	2.6	2.5	2.4	2.3	2.2	2.1	2.0	1.9	1.8	1.7	1.6	1.5
24.5							1b
24.0				1a	1a
23.5
23.0							1a
22.5								1b
22.0						1a	3b
21.5															Tibia.
21.0									1b		1b
20.5											1c
20.0									2b	1b
19.5									1b	1b
19.0									1b	1b	1c	3c
18.5									1b	1b	2c		1c
18.0									1b		2c	1c	1c
17.5
17.0														3c
14.5						1b
14.0				1a											Femui.
13.5				1a
13.0						2b
12.5					3a	2b
12.5					2a	3b			1c
11.5						1b	2b	2b	3c
11.0							1b	1b	7c	1c
10.5									1c	1c	1c	1c
10.5			1b												Metatarsus.
10.0		1a
9.5	1a	1a	1a	1b	1b
9.0			2a		4b	3b
8.5			1a.		2b	4b	3b	3c
8.0							1b	5c	8c	1c
7.5								1c	1c

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Eurypateryx and Meionornis.
				Mid-width of Shaft in Inches
Length	2.2	2.1	2.0	1.9	1.8	1.7	1.6	1.5	1.4	1.3	1.2
22.0		1e
21.5
21.0		1e
20.5			4e	1f	1h
20.0	1e	1e	2e	2f	7th	6h
19.5	1e	2e	1e	5f	11h	7h	3h
19.0				8f	11h	6h	1h					Tibia.
18.5				1f	1h	4h	2h
18.0					5g	3h	1h
17.5				1g	1g	2g
17.0						3g		1i	3i
16.5							4i	11i	7i
16.0							1i	24i	14i
15.5							2i	12i	20i	4i
15.0							1i	6i	15i	6i
14.5									2i	2i
14.0										1i
12.5				2e.								Femui.
12.0		1e	2e	1f	8f	2h	1h
11.5	4e	3e	7e	8f	20f	22h	5h	1h
11.0	333	1e	6e	7f	17f	18h	6h	1h
10.5			2e	3f	34f	8h	6h
10.0					5g	2h	6h	7i	11i
9.5						5g	7i	28i	35i	6i	1i
9.0									4i	17i	6i
9.5	2e		1f	2f								Metataisus.
9.0	6e	3e	5f	13f	14h	5h	2h
8.5		2e	10f	19f	22h	12h	2h
8.0	1e	2e	1f	7f	14h	1h	2h	4i
7.5				2g	12g	5i	8i	40i	19i	1i
7.0					2g	4g	5i	14i	18i	1i
6.5									3i	1i

a.	Pachyornis immanis.
b.	" elephantopus.
c.	Pachyornis inhabilis.
e.	Euryapteryx ponderosa.
f.	Euryapteryx crassa.
g.	" gravis.
h.	Meionornis casuarinus.
i.	" didinus.