The fossil avifauna of the tar seeps Las Breas de San Felipe, Matanzas, Cuba
Author
Suárez, William
text
Zootaxa
2020
2020-05-22
4780
1
1
53
journal article
21918
10.11646/zootaxa.4780.1.1
af0a7e60-adc6-4896-8544-63725501fa13
1175-5326
3856493
D6CC1683-8BF0-4ABF-ABFE-3EC63E66AE5C
Burhinus bistriatus
(
Wagler, 1829
)
Double-striped Thick-knee; Búcaro
Charadrius bistriatus
Wagler, 1829
,
Isis von Oken
, col. 648.
Referred material.
San Felipe I: Right humerus without distal end, MNHNCu 75.4783. San Felipe
II
: Distal end of right humerus, MNHNCu 75.4792; distal end of right tibiotarsus, MNHNCu 75.4798.
Description.
These fossils are similar in characters to specimens referred to
Burhinus bistriatus
(
Wagler, 1829
)
, from other fossil localities in
Cuba
, and to the neontological material of that species with which it has been compared.
Comments.
Burhinidae
was previously cited for Las Breas de San Felipe, as
Burhinus
sp., by
Iturralde-Vinent
et al
. (2000)
. The present material, although scarce, allows refinement of the identification to the specific level.
Burhinus bistriatus
is also known, and is abundant, in other Cuban deposits (
Arredondo 1984
;
Suárez 2000b
; Suárez unpubl. data). A fossil subspecies from
the Bahamas
,
B
.
b
.
nanus
Brodkorb, 1959b
, seems to be also present in
Cuba
(Suárez unpubl. data), being smaller than the living one in Hispaniola (
Brodkorb 1959b
;
Olson & Hilgartner 1982
),
B
.
b
.
dominicensis
(
Cory, 1883
), or another known from some Cuban deposits (Suárez & Olson unpubl. data). To determine the subspecific status of all these fossils from
Cuba
, it is necessary to expand the existing series.
Oswald & Steadman (2018)
consider the mentioned Bahamian taxon as a valid species.