Barbuda Goose (Neochen sp.)

This form is known from several subfossil remains including a carpometacarpus, a cervical vertebra, two manual phalanges, a pedal phalanx as well as a tibiotarsus recovered during excavations at Two Foot Bay on the island of Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda, in the Lesser Antilles.

The fossils, however, cannot be distinguished clearly from the bones of the recent Orinoco Goose (Neochen jubata (Spix)), which today is confined to the tropical part of South America but might once have been much more widespread.

The Barbudan form may have been identical with the Orinoco Goose or with the extinct Barbados Goose (Neochen barbadiana (Brodkorb)), which itself is in need of a review. 

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References:

[1] Gregory K. Pregill; David W. Steadman; David R. Watters: Late Quaternary vertebrate faunas of the Lesser Antilles: historical components of Caribbean biogeography. Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History 30: 1-51. 1994

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edited: 08.01.2024