Folia Historico-Naturalia Musei Matraensis - A Mátra Múzeum Természetrajzi Közleményei 21. (1996)

In the process of work up first I describe - in a General Part - some osteomorphological characters of the Falco genus. In the results I discuss the size measurements of each bone and species bone by bone, then I discuss the use of ratio values of the measurements that are very important tools in the identification of the species. Then I compare the morphological characteristics, then I summarise shortly the main features of each species one by one. The morphological differences are shown on graphs, scatter diagrams and drawings. At the end in the appendix I give the Tables of measurements and ratio values. The measurements were taken in the best possible agreement with the literature to enable the comparison of the already published data with my results. I gave the results in female, male and unknown sex categories, and hence the extent of sexual dimorphism can be calculated. / can summarise the main findings in the fallowings: 1. I described and summarised the most characteristic morphological features of the Falco genus. The most important are: - in the cranium the protrusion on the crista tomialis (falco tooth), the bone appendix on the middle of apertúra nasi externa, the longitudinal rib on the palatal part of os premaxillare, - in the mandibula the presence of fenestra mandibulae rostralis, the large size of the processus mandibulae lateralis, the complete lack of processus retroarticularis, the elevation of the dorso-medial edge of fossa caudalis (prominentia caudalis), - in the clavicula the large size of processus acromialis, - in the coracoideum the lack of processus lateralis, - in the scapula the shape of the acromion different from that of the members of the Accipitridae and Pandionidae, - in the humerus the presence of foramen nutricium on the ventral side of the proximal end of the bone, which is not found in other birds of prey, - in the sternum the presence of spina interna, which is not found in the members of the Accipitridae and Pandionidae, furthermore the large size of foramen pneumaticum, - in the pelvis the shape of the dorsal side of synsacrum and the praeacetabular part, - in the femur the shape of faciès articularis antitrochanterica, and the position of foramen pneumaticum, - in the tibiotarsus the lack of processus cnemialis, and the two pons supratendineus bridging over the canalis extensorius, - in the tarsometatarsus the presence of crista plantaris mediana, the lack of tuberositas musculi fibularis brevis, the position of the tuberositas musculi tibialis cranialis, the divided foramen vasculare distale, and the arched position of the trochleae. 2. I showed the morphological differences of the bones of the species examined, and grouped these characteristics in a form to facilitate the identification of the species. I can conclude that the same bones of the different species are usually easily separated. The main morphological features are the following: Cranium - the shape of the neurocranium, the longitudinal rib on the palatal part of os premaxillare, the shape of the os palatinum. Mandibula - the opennes of fenestra mandibulae rostralis, the shape of prominentia caudalis. 67