Mesembriornis milneedwardsi Moreno, 1889

Alvarenga, Herculano M. F. & Höfling, Elizabeth, 2003, Systematic Revision Of The Phorusrhacidae (Aves: Ralliformes), Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 43 (4), pp. 55-91 : 86

Mesembriornis milneedwardsi Moreno, 1889

revalid.name

Mesembriornis milneedwardsi Moreno, 1889:29 ; Moreno & Mercerat, 1891; Brodkorb, 1967 (syn. of Prophororhacos australis ).

Hypodigm – Type; distal half of the left tarsometatarsus, lacking the external trochlea (MLP-87- type of Paleociconia australis Moreno, 1889 ); an almost complete skeleton, lacking especially the skull (MACN-5944); almost complete skeleton, including the skull and mandible, besides the left and incomplete humerus, radius and ulna, the femurs, and the right tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus ( MMP-S155 ); distal fragment of the right femur (MLP-170) .

Horizon and Locality – The Middle and Upper Pliocene of Argentina (Montehermosan), Province of Buenos Aires; the Monte Hermoso and Chapadmalal Formations; Monte Hermoso, Rio Loberia.

Measurements – Table 9, Rovereto (1914), Kraglievich (1946) and Patterson & Kraglievich (1960).

Illustrations – Rovereto (1914) and Kraglievich (1932: PL. LVIII and 1946).

Remarks – Only a slighter larger size of specimen MMP-S155 does not justify the Kraglievich’s (1946) specific separation of Hermosiornis rapax . Patterson & Kraglievich (1960:19) commented that specimens MACN-5944 and MLP-140-142 may belong to the same individual, which seems to be very probable. The skull of specimen MMP-S155 ( Fig. 26D ) is the only known one of Mesembriornithinae and even though pictured in Kraglievich’s (1946), without comments, it is on some parts reconstructed; the rostral extremity, as well as the nostril region, are reconstructions; the height of the upper maxilla, in the middle part, is well defined but the length seems to be slightly increased in the reconstruction, mainly when considering the conserved mandible; the appearance of this skull seems to be more similar to that of Psilopterus bachmanni ( Fig. 26I ) than that represented in Kraglievich’s (1946:109) restoration. (Julia Clark, pers. inf., 1999).

Figures

FIGURE 26. Skulls of the Patagornithinae (A-C), Mesembriornithinae (D) and Psiloterinae (E-J). A - Andrewsornis abbotti (FM-P13417; from Patterson, 1941), B - Patagornis marshi (BMNH-A-516; from Andrews, 1899), C - Andalgalornis steulleti (FM-P14357); D - Mesembriornis milneedwardsi (MMP-S155); E - Procariama simplex (FM-P14525); F - Psilopterus lemoinei (FM-P13257); G - Psilopterus lemoinei (PUM-15402); H - Psilopterus lemoinei (AMNH-9157); I - Psilopterus lemoinei (PUM-15109); J - Psilopterus bachmanni (PUM-15904). G-J inverted figures from Sinclair & Farr (1910).