. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club. Trevor H. Worthy 98 Bull. 2003 123(2) Tarsometatarsus The hypotarsal region of the paratype proximal tarsometatarsus is eroded so the canal structure is not comparable to modern specimens. The shaft is robust, unlike the elongate slender tarsometatarsus of Gallinago or Limnodromus, and has lateral and medial ridges on its posterior facies. The lateral ridge becomes less pronounced distally prior to the break and, judging by the equivalent structure in other Coenocorypha species, about half of the bone is missing, indicating a reconstructed
. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club. Trevor H. Worthy 98 Bull. 2003 123(2) Tarsometatarsus The hypotarsal region of the paratype proximal tarsometatarsus is eroded so the canal structure is not comparable to modern specimens. The shaft is robust, unlike the elongate slender tarsometatarsus of Gallinago or Limnodromus, and has lateral and medial ridges on its posterior facies. The lateral ridge becomes less pronounced distally prior to the break and, judging by the equivalent structure in other Coenocorypha species, about half of the bone is missing, indicating a reconstructed total length of c. 36 mm. The tuberositas m. tibialis cranialis is a paired structure in snipe with the medial one largest. In the fossil, neither is prominent and both are in the base of the deep flat-floored sulcus extensorius as in other Coenocorypha species, but unlike Gallinago where the medial one is raised above the floor on the medial bounding ridge of the sulcus. The fossil distal right tarsometatarsus has broken trochleae, but the plantar surface of the base of trochlea metatarsi TV (TIV) is nearly on the same plane as that of Till, as in other Coenocorypha, but unlike Gallinago, where the planes of these trochlear surfaces meet at a distinct angle. The foramen vasculare distale is large and opens distally on to a flat plantar surface between TIV and Till. The distance between Til and TIV is wider than the basal width of Till, unlike the compressed state in Gallinago where it is narrower. Skull elements Two fragments of the mid- to posterior end of the rostrum complete the paratype series (Fig. 2). This compound bone is formed from the distally-expanded fused os nasales overlain by the nasal bar of the premaxilla as shown by the juvenile Coenocorypha aucklandica MNZ 18340. One fossil fragment preserves the most proximal section including the length of the impressions for the nasal choanae, which are c. 12 mm long and have a convex dorsal margin. The other fragment pre
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