Transactions of the Zoological Society of London Volume 16 - Tapa blanda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 Excerpt: ... li Psittacus " 1 was described for the first time. The next paper appeared after a considerable interval, and it was only in 1886 that Shufeldt, dealing with the osteology of Conurus carolinensis (3), called attention to the peculiar structure of the hyoid bone, and pointed out that "the thyro-hyal elements show but little curvature along their continuities, and still less disposition to curl up behind the cranium." In 1891, Gadow (4) described the myology, neurology, and osteology of the Parrot's 1 The two species of Psittacut described by Xitzsch are species of Chrysotis and Ara. tongue: Psittacus leucocephalus, Microglossus aterrimus, and Ara macao were alone dealt with, and the account being comparative and incorporated with the description of the lingual myology of other birds, does not attempt to deal with the subject in an exhaustive or detailed manner. In 1893, he (4') divided the Parrots into two families, i. e., Trichoglossidse and Psittacidae, basing his classification upon the external characters of the tongue, viz., the presence or absence of horny fibres (Hornfasern), the completeness or incompleteness of the orbital ring, and the direction of the file-like markings on the upper beak. In 1895 and 1896 St. G. Mivart (6 & 7) published some very complete descriptions of the hyoid bones of various Parrots, and among others described and figured for the first time those of Lorius domicella, Lorius Jlavo-palliatus, and Eos reticulata. In this paper attention is directed to certain bony processes of which no previous records exist, and the relationships of these to certain muscles of the tongue I describe in the body of this paper. Mivart further showed that the Order Psittaci is distinguished from every other order of birds by th...