Tag Archives: Cozumel

Toxostoma guttatum (Ridgway)

Cozumel Thrasher (Toxostoma guttatum)

The Cozumel Thrasher is, or rather was, endemic to Cozumel Island offshore the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.

The species reaches a length of about 21 to 24 cm.

The Cozumel Thrasher’s population was declining due to habitat destruction, when several hurricanes hit the island, leading to a further decreasing in numbers; the species was thought to have gone extinct when in 2004 it was rediscovered, only to apparently getting completely wiped out by subsequent hurricanes. It is now most likely extinct.

***

syn. Harporhynchus guttatus Ridgway

*********************

Photo: Naturalis Biodiversity Center  

(public domain)

*********************

edited: 22.08.2022

Urocyon sp. ‘Cozumel’

Cozumel Fox (Urocyon sp.)

The Cozumel Fox is an enigmatic, up to now undescribed species that is or was endemic to the island of Cozumel, Mexico.

The species is known from subfossil remains of which some have been recovered during archaeological excavations of Mayan middens, which date to an age of 1500 to 500 years.

The Cozumel Fox was smaller than its mainland congeners. [1]

*********************

References:

[1] M. E. Gompper; A. E. Petrites; R. L. Lyman: Cozumel Island fox (Urocyon sp.) dwarfism and possible divergence history based on subfossil bones. Jouranl of Zoology 270(1): 72-77. 2006

*********************

edited: 12.09.2019