Tag Archives: Antigua and Barbuda

Mimus gundlachii ssp. ‘Barbuda’

Barbuda Mockingbird (Mimus gundlachii ssp.)

Today, the Bahama Mockingbird (Mimus gundlachii Cabanis) is restricted to the cays off northern Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, as well as Turks and Caicos, where it inhabits semiarid scrubland. However, the species is known from at least two fossil or subfossil bones found on the island of Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda, in the Lesser Antilles. [1]

Given the fact that the birds on Jamaica are treated as a distinct subspecies, I personally assume that the birds from the Lesser Antilles most probably also represented a distinct subspecies, which disappeared probably around the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene border but might in fact have survived for somewhat longer. 

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Bahama Mockingbird (Mimus gundlachii); nominate race

Photo: Laura Gooch
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0

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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: 17.02.2020

Turdus lherminieri ssp. ‘Barbuda’

Barbuda Forest Thrush (Turdus lherminieri ssp.)

The Forest Thrush (Turdus lherminieri Lafresnaye) is a beautiful and quite large thrush that prefers humid forests, it is now restricted to four islands in the Lesser Antilles: Dominica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, and Saint Lucia, with each island harboring its own distinct endemic subspecies. 

The species was formerly more widespread and did also occur on Antigua and Barbuda, where it is known from subfossil remains found so far at least on the island of Barbuda. This form certainly constituted another island-endemic subspecies. [1]

The Barbuda Forest Thrush very likely survived well into the Holocene era but disappeared due to the clearing of the forests on its home island.

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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: 17.02.2020

Amazona vittata ssp. ‘Antigua’

Antigua Amazon (Amazona vittata ssp.)

This form is known from at least two subfossil bones recovered from archaeological sites on the island of Antigua, which were identified as being identical to the Puerto Rican Amazon (Amazona vittata (Boddaert)).

It is of course possible that the species was brought to the island by early human settlers, which apparently have always hunted parrots for food but have also kept them as pets and transported them from one place to another. The neighboring island of Barbuda, however, is known to once have harbored a native population of this species or maybe a very closely related one, so it is likely that the same form, or rather a subspecies of it inhabited Antigua as well. [1]

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References:

[1] Charles A. Woods; Florence E. Sergile: Biogeography of the West Indies: Patterns and Perspectives, Second Edition. CRC Press; Auflage: Subsequent 2001

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edited: 13.02.2020

Neochen sp. ‘Barbuda’

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

Leiocephalus cuneus ssp. ‘Antigua’

Antigua Curly-tailed Lizard (Leiocephalus cuneus ssp. 

The Antigua Curly-tailed Lizard is known only from subfossil remains, which are assigned to the Barbuda Curly-tailed Lizard (Leiocephalus cuneus Etheridge).  

I’d like to refer to this form from the island of Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda, as a subspecies distinct from its Barbudan congener, since both islands, Antigua and Barbuda, are disconnected since the end of the Pleistocene era about 10000 years ago.  

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References:  

[1] Gregory K. Pregill: Systematics of the West Indian Lizard Genus Leiocephalus (Squamata: Iguania: Tropiduridae). Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 84: 1-69. 1992

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edited: 08.09.2019

Amazona vittata ssp. ‘Barbuda’

Barbuda Amazon (Amazona vittata ssp.)

This form is known from a nearly complete rostrum found in 1962 in the deposits of a precultural cave site on the island of Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda.

The specimen agrees with the the rostrum of a modern Puerto Rican Amazon (Amazona vittata (Boddaert)), which formerly might have been far more widespead than it was in historical times, let alone today. [1]

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References:

[1] Charles A. Woods; Florence E. Sergile: Biogeography of the West Indies: Patterns and Perspectives, Second Edition. CRC Press; Auflage: Subsequent 2001

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edited: 13.02.2020

Ammodramus savannarum ssp. ‘Barbuda’

Barbudan Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ssp.)

The Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum (J. F. Gmelin)) is distributed over most of northern America as well as parts of the Caribbean, the species was in fact first described from Jamaica.

The species is known from Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda, in the Lesser Antilles based on a single complete humerus. [1]

The Caribbean populations of the Grasshopper Sparrow are treated as distinct island-endemic subspecies, thus the remains found on Barbuda most likely represent another, now extinct population that once was restricted to Antigua and Barbuda.

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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: 17.02.2020

Battus polydamas ssp. antiquus (Rothschild & Jordan)

Antigua Gold Rim Swallowtail (Battus polydamas ssp. antiquus)

The Antigua Gold Rim Swallowtail, described in 1906, is a subspecies of the Gold Rim Swallowtail (Battus polydamus (L.)); it is thought to have been endemic to the island of Antigua in the Lesser Antilles.

This form is actually known only from a depiction by the British entomologist Dru Drury from 1770 (see below), however, it is quite possible that this form never existed in the first place as it is known that Drury’s book contains lots of geographical and taxonomical errors.

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Depiction: ‘J. O. Westwood: Illustrations of exotic entomology : containing upwards of six hundred and fifty figures and descriptions of foreign insects, interspersed with remarks and reflections on their nature and properties by Dru Drury. London: Henry G. Bohn 1837’

(public domain)

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edited: 16.05.2022

Tyto noeli Arredondo

Noel’s Giant Barn Owl (Tyto noeli)

Noel’s Giant Barn Owl was described in 1972 on the basis of subfossil and fossil remains that had been found at abundant cave sites on the island of Cuba, as well as some very few remains found on Jamaica.

The species occurred also on Barbuda, were its remains originally had been described as a distinct species (Tyto neddi Steadman & Hilgartner) in 1999, but were later assigned to this species.

The Noel’s Giant Barn Owl survived well into the Holocene, the remains that had been found on Jamaica could be dated to an age of about 3700 years.

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References:

[1] William Suárez; Storrs L. Olson: Systematics and distribution of the giant fossil barn owls of the West Indies (Aves: Strigiformes: Tytonidae). Zootaxa 4020 (3): 533-553. 2015

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edited: 08.09.2019

Pyrrhulagra sp. ‘Barbuda’

Barbudan Bullfinch (Pyrrhulagra sp.)

This form is known from at least two subfossil remains, a quadrate and a rostrum, found on the island of Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda, in the Lesser Antilles.

The remains were compared to other closely related forms and most agree with the bones of the largest subspecies of the Greater Antillean Bullfinch (Pyrrhulagra violacea ssp. ruficollis (J. F. Gmelin)) from Jamaica, which is about the same size as the now extinct St. Kitts Bullfinch (Pyrrhulagra grandis (Lawrence)). [1]

The Barbudan Bullfinch may have been identical with the St. Kitts species or it might have been a distinct species, I personally like to refer to it as a distinct species. [2]

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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
[2] D. W. Steadman; R. L. Norton; M. R. Browning; W. J. Arendt: The birds of St Kitts, Lesser Antilles. Caribbean Journal of Science 33(1–2):S. 1–20. 1997

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edited: 17.02.2020

Cyclura sp. ‘Barbuda’

Barbuda Iguana (Cyclura sp.)

This form, which might have been a distinct species, is currently known only from a single bone, a braincase, found on the island of Barbuda.

The species apparently disappeared as early as shortly after the occupation of the island by Amerindian settlers.

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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: 16.05.2021

Leiocephalus cuneus Etheridge

Barbuda Curly-tailed Lizard (Leiocephalus cuneus)  

This species was described in 1964 based on subfossil bones that had been found one year prior on the island of Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda.  

The species is said to have been the largest within its genus, it might in fact have reached sizes of over 40 cm (including the tail). [1][2]  

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The Barbuda Curly-tailed Lizard has survived at least until the 15th century, but died out shortly after the arrival of the first European settlers who also introduced rats to the islands, which again probably killed many of the endemic reptiles.  

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References:  

[1] David W. Steadman; Gregory K. Pregill; Storrs L. Olson: Fossil vertebrates from Antigua, Lesser Antilles: Evidence for late Holocene human-caused extinctions in the West Indies. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81: 4448-4451. 1984 
[2] Gregory K. Pregill: Systematics of the West Indian Lizard Genus Leiocephalus (Squamata: Iguania: Tropiduridae). Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 84: 1-69. 1992  

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edited: 08.09.2019

Megalomys sp. ‘Barbuda’

Barbuda Rice Rat (Megalomys sp.)

This species is known from subfossil remains, which originally were not assigned to any known genus.

The Barbuda Rice Rat was endemic to the island of Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda, in the Lesser Antilles, it was sympatric with another species of the same genus, the Barbuda Giant Rice Rat (Megalomys audreyae Hopwood). [1]

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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: 17.02.2020