Tag Archives: Nesotrochis

Nesotrochis debooyi Wetmore

Antillean Cave Rail (Nesotrochis debooyi)

The Antillean Cave Rail, which is also known as DeBooy’s Rail, was a large, flightless species that is known exclusively from subfossil remains recovered from cave deposits on the islands of Saint Croix and Saint Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands as well as on Puerto Rico.

The species was originally known exclusively from subfossil midden remains, and it was not clear to which island it originally was native to since the birds appear to have been an important meat-source and to have been transported from island to island by the native inhabitants of the region.:

There is at beast considerable uncertainty as to the exact place of origin of bone remains from kitchen midden deposits, but it may be supposed that where so many bones representing one species are found, that these came from the island on which the midden was located. There is no proof, however, that they belong to a truly indigenous species, nor is it known that they were not brought as needed from somewhere else. The comparative abundance of the remains of this rail in these deposits when compared with other species of birds indicate that it possessed flesh that was held in high esteem as a source of food. This beeing the case, there is no evidence to show that these rails may not have been kept as captives and transported from island to island by their owners.

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The Antillean Cave Rail was later also found in cave deposits on Puerto Rico without any archaeological context and thus appear to have probably been native to that island. [2]

The species might have survived on Puerto Rico into the 19th century: there are stories of a bird called carroo, that was run down with dogs by hunters prior to 1912; the name is now applied to the Limpkin (Aramus guarana (L.)), which is a wary bird with strong flight abilities, that very unlikely can be captured with dogs. [3]

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References:

[1] A. Wetmore: Bones of birds collected by Theodoor de Booy from Kitchen Midden deposits in the islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 54(2245): 513-522. 1918
[2] Alexander Wetmore: Bird remains from the caves of Porto Rico. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 46: 297-333. 1922
[3] Storrs L. Olson: A new species of Nesotrochis from Hispaniola, with notes on other fossil rails from the West Indies (Aves: Rallidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 87(38): 439-450. 1974
[4] Jessica A. Oswald; Ryan S. Terrill; Brian J. Stucky; Michelle J. LeFebvre; David W. Steadman; Robert P. Guralnick: Supplementary material from “Ancient DNA from the extinct Haitian cave-rail (Nesotrochis steganinos) suggests a biogeographic connection between the Caribbean and Old World”. Biological Letters 17(3). 2021 

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edited: 16.02.2020

Nesotrochis picapicensis (Fischer & Stephan)

Cuban Cave Rail (Nesotrochis picapicensis)

The Cuban Cave Rail was described (originally as a species of coot) in 1971 from Pleistocene deposits from the Pío Domingo cave in the Pinar del Río province of Cuba. [1]

The species very likely survived into Holocene times.

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References:

[1] Storrs L. Olson: A new species of Nesotrochis from Hispaniola, with notes on other fossil rails from the West Indies (Aves: Rallidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 87(38): 439-450. 1974
[2] Jessica A. Oswald; Ryan S. Terrill; Brian J. Stucky; Michelle J. LeFebvre; David W. Steadman; Robert P. Guralnick: Supplementary material from “Ancient DNA from the extinct Haitian cave-rail (Nesotrochis steganinos) suggests a biogeographic connection between the Caribbean and Old World”. Biological Letters 17(3). 2021 

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edited: 16.02.2020

Nesotrochis steganinos Olson

Haitian Cave Rail (Nesotrochis steganinos)

The Haitian Cave Rail was described in 1974 on the basis of subfossil remains, it is the smallest of the three species that are assigned to this genus whose relations, by the way, are still quite unknown.

The species, like its congeners, showed a remarkable sexual dimorphism.:

There appear to be two distinct types of humeri in N. steganinos – larger ones with a shallow elongated brachial depression … and smaller ones with a very deep, rounded brachial depression …. These at first seemed so disparate that I took them to be from entirely different species. However, they are alike in all but these two respects and one of the specimens (205691) is somewhat intermediate. it seems best, therefore, to refer all of these humeri to N. steganinos, since there is no other indication of the presence of two species of Nesotrochis in the deposits. The size differences are in accord with observed size differences in the hindlimb, while differences in the brachial depression are possibly indicative of a sexual dimorphism that involved more than size.” [1]

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The remains of the Haitian Cave Rail were found in cave deposits containing great quantities of bones of several larger, now mostly extinct rodents and other mammals which were accumulated by the likewise extinct Hispaniolan Giant Barn Owl (Tyto ostologa Wetmore). [1]

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References:

[1] Storrs L. Olson: A new species of Nesotrochis from Hispaniola, with notes on other fossil rails from the West Indies (Aves: Rallidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 87(38): 439-450. 1974
[2] Jessica A. Oswald; Ryan S. Terrill; Brian J. Stucky; Michelle J. LeFebvre; David W. Steadman; Robert P. Guralnick: Supplementary material from “Ancient DNA from the extinct Haitian cave-rail (Nesotrochis steganinos) suggests a biogeographic connection between the Caribbean and Old World”. Biological Letters 17(3). 2021 

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edited: 16.02.2020