2-888-626 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Fossil Foot of Dinornis, 1850. Lecture by Gideon Algernon Mantell on the extinct gigantic birds of New Zealand. 'The most extraordinary relics obtained from this spot were the entire series of bones ot the shanks and feet (twenty-six in number) of the same individual tridactyle (three-toed) bird...The toes present the characteristic number of bones observable in birds: thus the inner toe has 3 bones; middle, 4; the outer toe 5; had there been a hinder toe that would have consisted of but 2 bones. The foot, when recent, with the cartilages, claws, &c., must have been 16 inches long and 18 inches wide; the height of the bird to which it belonged wis probably about 10 feet. But there are several bones of the thigh, leg, &c., that indicate greater proportions, and an altitude of 12 or even 14 feet'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.