REAPPRAISAL OF DINORNIS (AVES, DINORNITHIFORMES) SPECIES - A MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Examination of Dinornis crania revealed three forms distinguishable by their shape, in particular, by the combination of the characters: tem poral width - postorbital width ratio, presence or absence of tuberosi ties laterad of the occipital crest, relative development of the mamil lar tuberosities, shape of the basisphenoid plate, shape of the occipi tal condyle, and shape of the pterygoid. Statistical analyses of crani al measurements corroborated the separation of these cranial forms. Th e species to which the three forms are referred are D. struthoides (sm allest), D. novaezealandiae (medium sized), and D. giganteus (largest) . Statistical analyses of datasets (length and width measurements of f emora, tibiotarsi, and tarsometatarsi individually associated with the crania) indicate that leg-bones are also attributable to one of the t hree species on the basis of measurements. While leg bones of the thre e species differ primarily in length, those of D. novaezealandiae, esp ecially the tibiotarsi, are relatively stouter than those of the other two species. The type tarsometatarsus of D. struthoides, and type tib iotarsus of D. novaezealandiae, are recognised to be rather atypical s pecimens.