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The Missing Late Pleistocene Ostrich Femur from Zhoukoudian (China): New Information Provided by a Rediscovered Old Cast.
- Source :
- Diversity (14242818); Feb2023, Vol. 15 Issue 2, p265, 10p
- Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- A complete ostrich femur from the Late Pleistocene deposits of the Upper Cave at Zhoukoudian (China) was referred by Shaw to Struthio anderssoni in the 1930s, but its present whereabouts are unknown. A good quality plaster cast of the missing specimen has been found in the collections of the Natural History Museum (London). This cast provides interesting information about the morphology of this large ostrich femur, which had previously been only summarily described and not illustrated. Although smaller than the femora of the Early Pleistocene giant ostrich Pachystruthio, the robust femur from Zhoukoudian shows morphological similarities with them, and it is suggested that 'Struthio' anderssoni should be placed in the genus Pachystruthio. The importance of old palaeontological casts is emphasized, as well as the need to preserve and curate them properly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- PLEISTOCENE Epoch
OSTRICHES
NATURAL history museums
FEMUR
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14242818
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Diversity (14242818)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 162118209
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/d15020265