Scolopax anthonyi
Scolopax anthonyi Temporal range: Late Quaternary
| |
---|---|
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Scolopacidae |
Genus: | Scolopax |
Species: | †S. anthonyi
|
Binomial name | |
†Scolopax anthonyi (Wetmore, 1920)
| |
Synonyms | |
Gallinago anthonyi (Wetmore, 1920) Scolopax anthonyi (Olson, 1976) |
Scolopax anthonyi is a prehistoric species of woodcock in the family Scolopacidae that was once endemic to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.
Taxonomy
[edit]Its fossil remains were initially identified as belonging to a snipe of the genus Gallinago, but a re-analysis of the bones in 1976 indicated that they belonged to a woodcock. It has more osteological similarities to the Eurasian woodcock than the American woodcock, a trait it shares with the also extinct Scolopax brachycarpa of Hispaniola. Both of these species may have belonged to a distinct insular radiation in the Caribbean, which are now extinct.[1]
Description
[edit]Scolopax anthonyi had reduced wings compared to other species in the genus, indicating that it may have had a more terrestrial lifestyle or even may have been flightless. It likely lived in a forested habitat, like extant members of the genus. Little is known about the cause for its extinction.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ "A new species of Woodcock (Aves: Scolopacidae: Scolopax) from Hispaniola, West Indies | Request PDF". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
- ^ Hume, Julian P. (2017). Extinct Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978-1472937445.