Guadeloupe Mussarana (Clelia sp.)
The Guadeloupe Mussarana is a snake species that is known from some subfossil remains (?) that were found on the island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.
The status of this form is not known yet; it might be extinct. [1]
*********************
References:
[1] Robert Powell; Robert W. Henderson: Island list of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 51(2): 87-168. 2012
*********************
edited: 17.08.2022
This species is known from subfossil remains that were recovered from archaeological sites on the small island of La Desirade off the northeast coast of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles.
The remains were dated to about 600 to 1400 AD.. [1][2]
*********************
References:
[1] S. T. Turvey: Holocene Extinctions. Oxford University Press, USA 2009
[2] Myriam Boudadi-Maligne; Salvador Bailon; Corentin Bochaton; Fabrice Casagrande; Sandrine Grouard; Nathalie Serrand; Arnaud Lenoble: Evidence for historical human-induced extinctions of vertebrate specieson La Désirade (French West Indies). Quaternary Research 85: 54-65. 2016
*********************
edited: 17.02.2020
Guadeloupe Curly-tailed Lizard (Leiocephalus sp.)
This undescribed form, which may or may not be related to or even conspecific with the Barbuda Curly-tailed Lizard (Leiocephalus cuneus Etheridge) is known from subfossil remains of Latest Holocene age found in 1984 in an unnamed cave at Pointe du Capucin at the northern shore of the island of Basse Terre in the Guadeloupe archipelago.
The Guadeloupe Curly-tailed Lizard survived into historical times, the remains have not yet been dated but were found associated with the bones of rats, which were introduced to the Caribbean only in the 15th century. [1]
*********************
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
*********************
edited: 08.09.2019
Marie Galante Giant Rice Rat (Megalomys sp.)
This species is up to now undescribed, it is known from subfossil remains that had been found on the island of Marie Galante offshore Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles. [1]
*********************
References:
[1] Alexandra van der Geer; George Lyras; John de Vos; Michael Dermitzakis: Evolution of Island Mammals: Adaptation and Extinction of Placental Mammals on Islands. Wiley-Blackwell 2010
*********************
edited: 17.02.2020
Guadeloupe House Wren (Troglodytes aedon ssp. guadeloupensis)
This form, described in 1886, occurred on the islands of Basse Terre and Grande Terre, Guadeloupe.
The Guadeloupe House Wren reached a length of about 11,5 cm, it was quite like the Grenada House Wren (Troglodytes aedon ssp. grenadensis (Lawrence)) (see photo) or the Martinique House Wren (Troglodytes aedon ssp. martinicensis (Sclater)), differing by its shorter wings.
The form was last recorded during field observations from 25 May through 1 June of the year 1973.:
“At 10:30 while standing at the beginning of the trail at the end of the raod a wren sang a few meters down slope then flew to a perch in bright sunlight. We observed it with 7 x 50 binoculars for 1 min at a distance of 10 m, recognizing it as a Guadaloupe House Wren before it flew into dense brush.” [2]
During these field observations at least five birds where seen, including at least four singing males.
*********************
References:
[1] Charles B. Cory: Descriptions of new species of birds from the West Indies. The Auk 3(3): 381-382. 1886
[2] John C. Barlow: Another colony of the Guadeloupe House Wren. Wilson Bulletin 90(4): 635-637. 1978
[3] Dieter Luther: Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt. Westarp Wissenschaften 1986
*********************
*********************
edited: 06.09.2019
Marie-Galante Macaw (Ara sp.)
This somewhat enigmatic form is known on the basis of two skeletal remains, both found on the small island of Marie-Galante, an island in the Guadeloupe archipelago; the first one is a subfossil ulna that had been recovered from the Folle Anse archaeological site and the other one is a very much older phalanx recovered from cave deposits that are of Late Pleistocene age.
The Marie-Galante Macaw most likely wasn’t a distinct species but was identical with the Guadeloupe Macaw (Ara guadeloupensis Clark), for which, however, no skeletal specimen exists and which thus still is considered a hypothetical form. [1][2]
*********************
References:
[1] Charles A. Woods; Florence E. Sergile: Biogeography of the West Indies: Patterns and Perspectives, Second Edition. CRC Press; Auflage: Subsequent 2001
[2] Monica Gala; Arnaud Lenoble: Evidence of the former existence of an endemic macaw in Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles. Journal of Ornithology 156(4): 1061-1066. 2015
*********************
edited: 06.09.2019
Guadeloupe Giant Rice Rat (Megalomys sp.)
This form, which hitherto has not been described, is known from subfossil material that was found on the island of Guadelopue in the Lesser Antilles. [1]
*********************
References:
[1] Alexandra van der Geer; George Lyras; John de Vos; Michael Dermitzakis: Evolution of Island Mammals: Adaptation and Extinction of Placental Mammals on Islands. Wiley-Blackwell 2010
*********************
edited: 17.02.2020
Guadeloupe Ameiva (Pholidoscelis cineraceus)
The Guadeloupe Ameiva was described in 1915 based on three specimens that had been collected on the island of Basse Terre, Guadeloupe, it has already been mentioned in 1667 by Jean-Baptiste Du Tetre, a French blackfriar and botanist who lived on the island for some time.
The species died out due to predation by Small Indian Mongooses (Herpestes auropunctatus (Hodgson)) which had been introduced to the island in 1887.
***
syn. Ameiva cineracea Barbour & Noble
*********************
edited: 02.05.2021
Martinique Giant Ameiva (Pholidoscelis major)
The Martinique Giant Ameiva was described in 1839; it is known exclusively from museum specimens, whose origins appear to be unknown, they may have come from the island of Martinique or from the so-called Les Iles de la petite Terre, offshore Guadeloupe.
The species disappeared most likely due to predation by introduced mammalian predators.
*********************
*********************
edited: 02.05.2021
Guadeloupe Robber Snail (Oleacina guadeloupensis)
The Guadeloupe Robber Snail was described in 1856, it was endemic to the Guadeloupe archipelago in the Lesser Antilles.
The species inhabited damp, shady places under plant debris and stones and probably, like most members of its family, fed on other snail species.
The Guadeloupe Robber Snail is now considered extinct.
************************
*********************
edited: 06.09.2019
Guadeloupe Land Snail (Amphicyclotulus guadeloupensis)
The Guadeloupe Land Snail was described in 1942, it was endemic to the island of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles.
The shells reached sizes of about 1,28 cm in heigth and about 1,76 cm in diameter. [1]
***
There seems not to be much known about this species.
*********************
References:
[1] Carlos de la Torre; Paul Bartsch; Joseph P. E. Morrison: The cyclophorid operculate land mollusks of America. Washington, United States Govt. Print. Off. 1942
*********************
*********************
edited: 06.09.2019
Guadeloupe Macaw (Ara guadeloupensis)
The Guadeloupe Macaw aka. Lesser Antillean Macaw is the best presented Caribbean macaw species, regarding contemporaneous accounts.
The first of these accounts dates from 1553, comes from the Spanish historian Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés and is itself referring to another account from 1496, made by Fernando Colón (Ferdinand Columbus), a Spanish bibliographer and the second son of Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus), who again mentions chicken-sized parrots, which the Island Caribs called Guacamayas, in Guadeloupe. [2]
There are very detailed accounts made by Jean Baptiste Du Tetre in 1667, who not only describes the bird in detail but also gives some information about its life and the way it was hunted by the natives and so on. [1][2]
***
A subfossil terminal phalanx, found in late Pleistocene cave deposits on the island of Marie-Galante, a small island offshore the east coast of Basse Terre and Grande Terre, Guadeloupe, has been assigned to a Ara sp., another skeletal remain; a single subfossil ulna recovered from an archaeological site on the same small island is also assignable to a Ara sp.. These two remains are the only evidence for the former presense of a macaw species on the Guadeloupe archipelago. [3][4]
***
The St. Croix Macaw (Ara autochthones Wetmore), which is known from several subfossil remains, as well as the undescribed Montserrat Macaw (Ara sp.) known from subfossil remains from the island of Montserrat, might be identical with this species.
*********************
References: [1] J. B. Du Tetre: Histoire Générale des Antilles Habitées par les François. Paris: T. Lolly 1667
[2] Austin H. Clark: The Lesser Antillean Macaws. The Auk 22(3): 266-273. 1905
[3] Charles A. Woods; Florence E. Sergile: Biogeography of the West Indies: Patterns and Perspectives, Second Edition. CRC Press; Auflage: Subsequent 2001
[4] Monica Gala; Arnaud Lenoble: Evidence of the former existence of an endemic macaw in Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles. Journal of Ornithology 156(4): 1061–1066. 2015
*********************
*********************
edited: 06.09.2019