Catalogue of Cuban fossil and subfossil birds Author Suárez, William text Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 2022 2022-03-11 142 1 247 248 journal article 303162 10.25226/bboc.v142i1.2022.a3 298e164c-f86e-4b3e-b3b3-2562d0ba6048 2513-9894 13760932 4C9216EC-E822-4CC7-A163-6E96CFB3078F 14. † Gigantohierax suarezi Arredondo & Arredondo, 2002 Suárez’s Giant Eagle (Águila Gigante de Suárez) Gigantohierax suarezi Arredondo & Arredondo, 2002a , Poeyana 470–475: 10 [for 1999]. Aquila borrasi : Arredondo 1970a: 3 (part). Titanohierax borrasi : Olson & Hilgartner 1982: 28 (part). History .— July 1954 : first material collected by members of SEC in a cave deposit in western Cuba ( Arredondo 1955: 29 , 1958: 11 , 1961: 20 , 1964: 19 , 1970a: 1–2 , 1971: 94 ). December 1955 : a drawing of an ungual phalanx, digit I, is labelled ‘ave prehistórica, tal vez andadora’ [‘prehistoric bird, maybe a walker’] ( Arredondo 1955: 26 ). July 1958 : an incomplete right femur and the same ungual phalanx are figured and tentatively identified as a supposed larger species of terror bird than Ornimegalonyx oteroi (see Arredondo 1958 ). The length of the phalanx is compared to one of ‘ Phororhacos longissimus ’ ( Arredondo 1958: 11 ) . 27 March 1959 : B. Patterson (MCZ, in litt . to O. Arredondo) mentions a large eagle identified (see ‘Notes’) among Cuban material sent to him for study ( Arredondo 1964: 21 , 1970a: 2 ). 1961 : first published notice in Cuba of an extinct eagle from the island ( Arredondo 1961: 20 ; see also Arredondo 1964: 19 , 21, 90). January 1970 : original description of ‘ Aquila ’ borrasi published ( Arredondo 1970a ) based on a composite type series including some specimens at MCZ ( Arredondo 1970a: 3–4 , see Buteogallus borrasi ). 5 August 1982 : species transferred to extinct genus Titanohierax Wetmore ( Olson & Hilgartner 1982: 28 ) . 16 February 1995 : Jesús Martínez González and WS collect the holotype ( Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 9 ). 13 December 2002 : original description (not ‘ 26 May 1999 ’, see ‘Notes’ under Oscaravis olsoni ) of Gigantohierax suarezi is published ( Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 10 ). The type series includes some large specimens at MCZ, formerly described as ‘ Aquila ’ borrasi . 22 May 2020 : first record in asphalt deposits, with description of previously unknown skeletal elements (Suárez 2020a: 22–25). Holotype .—Left femur, MNHNCu 75.574, original number ‘MNHNH. P-574’ ( Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 10 , figs. 1* [anterior], 3*A [posterior]; see Díaz-Franco 2004: 156 , Herrera-Uria et al . 2015: 114 ). Collected 16 February 1995 by Jesús Martínez González and WS in the deposit known as El Sumidero (see Suárez 2000b ) at the type locality ( Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 9 ). The holotype was not ‘discovered since the late 1950s’ ( contra Orihuela 2019: 60 ). Other material .— Femur : right lacking trochanter and condyles, SEC P-26, at MCZ ( Arredondo 1958: 12 , fig. left unnumbered: top [anterior], 1964: 19, fig. left unnumbered: right [anterior], 1970a: 4, fig. 7 [anterior], 1971: 96, fig. top left unnumbered: A, left [anterior], Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 9–10 , fig. 2* [anterior]). Tarsometatarsus : three shaft fragments of right, WS 80120.E. Phalanges : ungual phalanx, digit I, SEC P-31, at MCZ ( Arredondo 1955: 27 , fig. unnumbered*: centre [lateral], 1958: 10, fig. left unnumbered*: 2 [lateral], 12, fig. left unnumbered: middle right [lateral], 1970a: 4, fig. 3A [lateral], 1971: 96, fig. top left unnumbered: A, top [lateral], bottom* [lateral], Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 9–10 , fig. 4A*:[lateral]). Type locality .— Cueva de Sandoval ( ASA ), c . 4 km south of Vereda Nueva , municipality of Caimito , Artemisa [formerly La Habana ] province, Cuba ( Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 10 ). Fig. 6 . Distribution .—Cave, asphalt and sinkhole deposits in west and central Cuba (see Appendix). Artemisa . Caimito: ACP ( Arredondo 1955: 26 [‘ave prehistórica, tal vez andadora’], 1958: 11 [‘especie mucho mayor’], 1964: 19 [‘Aguila cubana de la prehistoria’], 1970a: 4 [‘ Aquila borrasi sp. nov. ’(part)], figs. 5*A= ungual phalanx [lateral], 9* = ungual phalanx [lateral], see ‘Notes’ under Buteogallus borrasi ; 1971: 96 [‘ Aquila borrasi (part)’], Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 9–10 ; WS unpubl.), ASA = type locality ( Suárez 2000b : table 1 [‘ Accipitridae indeterminate’], Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 10 [‘ Gigantohierax suarezi n. gen., n. sp. ’]), ACF ( Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 10 ). Mayabeque . Quivicán: YIN (WS unpubl.). Matanzas . Jagüey Grande: MFJ (WS unpubl.), Martí: MLB (Suárez 2020a, fig. 11 = humerus: A [palmar], B [anconal], C = carpometacarpus [external], D = tarsometatarsus [distal], E [idem: anterior], F [idem: medial], G [idem: posterior], H = digit I, phalanx 1 [dorsal], I = ungual phalanx, digit I [lateral]). Villa Clara . Sagua La Grande: VCB (WS unpubl.). Figure 6. Cueva de Sandoval ( ASA ), Caimito, western Cuba. Type locality of † Gigantohierax suarezi Arredondo & Arredondo and † Falco kurochkini Suárez & Olson. Direct 14 C dating .—None. For dating of other bird species at MLB, see Antigone cubensis , Gymnogyps varonai and Ornimegalonyx oteroi , and of associated extinct mammals ( Parocnus browni = 11,880 ± 420 to 4,960 ± 280 years 14 C BP), see Jull et al . (2004) and Steadman et al . (2005) . Notes .—Common in Cuban Quaternary deposits. This taxon is the largest Accipitridae ever known from the Americas, larger than the living Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja ( Linnaeus, 1758 ) or any of the extinct described species there ( Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: 10 , Suárez 2020a: 22); the genus seems to have been also present on Hispaniola (Suárez 2020a: 25). Another paratype of Aquila (= Buteogallus ) borrasi , the ungual phalanx GEC unnumbered, at CZACC, from ACP ( Arredondo 1970a: 4 ), is referred herein to G . suarezi (see ‘Notes’ under B . borrasi ). According to B. Patterson’s notes comparing fossil material from Cuba with museum specimens, femur SEC P-26 (see ‘Other material’) was considered by him as a ‘Giant Cuban Cathartid’, instead of ‘Accipitridae’, as he identified other bones in the sample. Arredondo correctly assumed ( contra Patterson’s notes) that the largest femur was an Accipitridae (now G. suarezi ), and included it in the type series of ‘ Aquila ’ borrasi (see Arredondo 1970a: 4 , Arredondo 1984: 11 ). On the other hand, the skeleton of G. suarezi is similar to some Old World vultures in characters ( Suárez & Olson 2021: 264 , Suárez et al . unpubl.), which confused B. Patterson to the point that he considered the large Cuban femur as belonging to a cathartid. A more complete study of the anatomy and relationships of this taxon will be presented elsewhere (Suárez et al . unpubl.).