Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1895-10-17
BIRDS OF GIGANTIC SIZE.
Eeathered Monsters That InhabIt Noun
tain Regions of Snuth America

Eeathered Monsters That InhabIt Noun
tain Regions of South America
For many years the minds of philo-
sophical ornithologists have been much
exercised by the origin and phylogeny
of the existing flightless ostrich-like
birds and their fossil relatives. Not
very long ago, we believe, it was not
an uncommon opinion that all these
rattle birds, as ostriches, rheas, casso-
varies and emus. are collectively
called, were the immediate descend
ants of a certain group of extinct rep
tile, and that they themselves gave
origin to the flying birds. One circum-
stance is, however, fatal to this hy-
pothesis. Flying birds have the bones
of the fore limb, or wing, constructed
on a very peculiar plan, and quite un-
like those " either mammals or rep
tiles But precisely the same type of
structure is presented by the rudi-
mentary wings of such of the ostrich
like birds as possess these appendages
at all; and it is quite clear that if
these birds had been evolved from rep
tiles in the condition we now find
them-that is to say, without the
power of fiight-they would have re-
tanned the reptile type of forelimb, aud
would not have an aborted birds
wing. Hence, 1t is clear that we must
regard the ostriches and their allies as
the descendants of birds endowed with
the power of flight, but whose wings
have become gradually atrophied by
disuse till, as in the emus, they are
extremely minute, or, as in the extinct
moas of New Zealand, have even COM
pletely disappeared. So far as the ex-
isting and later tertiary representa-
tives of these giant fiightless birds are
concerned, it does not appear that we
have at present any means of deciding
this question one way or the other.
The discoveries made during the last
few years in the oder tertiary deposits
of Patagonia have, however, gradually
brought to light the remains of a
group of most extraordinary gigantic
fightless birds which formerly inhab-
tied that country, and which are so to-
tally unlike all the modern ratite
that there can be no reasonable doubt
as to their having originated inde-
pendently from flying forms. When
we have once admitted the independent
origin of one group of flightless birds
there appear at first sight no great
reasons why the modern types should
not have had diverging ancestry, al
though there are certain grounds for
regarding them as derived from a
single stock. For knowledge of the
giant fiightless birds of Patagonia we
are mainly indebted to the labors of
Senor Florentino Ameghino, of Buenos
Ayres. The first example of their re-
mains brought to light was a portion
of lower jaw, and so massive and un-
bird-like was this bone that 1t was at
first described as belonging to a gi-
gantic edentate mammal And no
wonder either, for we have not hither-
to been accustomed to deal with birds
whose lower jaw measures about TWEEN
ty-one inches in total length. Indeed,
it is even now difficult to convince
English naturalists that the fossilized
extremities of the beaks of the extraor-
dinary birds are avian at all. Mr.. Ly-
decks goes on at considerable length
to discuss the question, and the article
is full of useful information.-Know
edpe