On the fossil mammals of Australia” Part X. Family macropodidæ: mandibular dentition and parts of the skeleton of palorchestes; additional evidences of macropus titan, sthenurus, and procoptodon. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Volume 166, 1876. [KANGAROO]
London: Taylor and Francis, 1876. 1st Edition. No wrappers, as extracted. First edition of a classical paper complete with 13 lithograph plates by the famous English paleontologist, biologist and comparative anatomist Richard Owen. This paper is the first in a series of ten entitled "On the Fossil Mammals of Australia." NOTE: We offer other Owen papers separately, including almost all papers in his “On the Fossil Mammals of Australia” series.
Family macropodidæ: mandibular dentition and parts of the skeleton of palorchestes; additional evidences of macropus titan, sthenurus, and procoptodon: First appearance of a classical paper in which Owen presents and illustrates “The evidences of these extinct Mammals which have been made known through the ‘Transactions’ of the Royal Society have stimulated the search and transmission of additional fossils, from which are selected for the present com-munication those tending to complete the restoration of the gigantic kind of Kangaroo indicated by the portion of skull described and figured in the volume for 1874, and others adding to the knowledge of the dental system and osteology of Sthenurus, Procoptodon, and Macropus Titan” (Owen).
Owen “distinguished himself with his powers of organization and deduction. At the same time he showed himself to be a peerless anatomist with instincts for reconstruction almost on a par with the great Cuvier in Paris. He became such an expert on the anatomy of animals that he was granted first refusal on any animal that died at the London Zoological Gardens, and these he would invariably have delivered to his house for examination. Once his wife returned home to find a freshly deceased rhinoceros filling the front hallway” (Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, 88). Item #1355
CONDITION & DETAILS: London: Taylor and Francis. 4to. No wrappers as extracted from "Philosophical Transactions", 1876. Vol. 166, pp. 197-226. 13 lithographed plates. Complete. The text is clean and bright. Occasional light toning on the plates. Very good condition.
Price: $145.00