The
tarsometatarsi (lower leg bones) of
Talpanas lippa were short and stout, and the
braincase shallow and wide relative to its length. It had very small orbits (eye sockets) and also very small optic
foramina (holes in the skull through which the optic nerves pass as they travel from the eyes to the brain). Together, these physical characteristics show that the eyes and
optic nerve of this duck were quite reduced in size, and it can be assumed that this species was probably both
blind and
flightless. However, the maxillo-mandibular foramina (holes through which the
trigeminal nerve passes) are extremely large, indicating larger nerves were travelling through it. The authors hypothesize that this blind, or nearly blind, duck would have used tactile and olfactory stimuli (the senses of
touch and
smell) from its beak to explore its surroundings in the absence of good vision. The
holotype, a partial skull, is stored at the
Smithsonian Institution with specimen number USNM 535683. ==References==