Nesotrochis picapicensis (Pica-Pica's Rail)

[Carlos]

Nesotrochis picapicensis (Fischer and Stephan)
Fulica picapicensis Fischer and Stephan 1971, p.595.

Distribution:
Fossil deposits: Pío Domingo Cave, (Sumidero, Pinar del Río Province) Sandoval Cave (Vereda Nueva, Caimito, La Habana).
Cultural (Archaeological) Deposits: La Cachimba Cave (El Ingles, Matanzas); Cobo Cave (Siete Cuevas, Bejucal, La Habana); Hueso Cave (San José de Las Lajas, La Habana); Infierno Cave (San José de Las Lajas, La Habana); Blancas Cave (Quivicán, La Habana); Solapa de la Antena (Boyeros, Ciudad de La Habana); José Brea Cave (Viñales, Pinar del Río); Cayo Redondo, Bahía Guardiana, (Sandino, Pinar del Río) (Jiménez 1997).

The species that survived the first extinction wave [early Holocene], mostly non-carnivorous, suffered the following one that started when amerindians arrived to the Antilles. The later together with their dogs and hunting devices. The first preys were problably those birds inept to fly, like Nesotrochis picapicensis... remains of which are very common in indian middens (Jiménez 1997).

Source: Biogeography of the fossil birds of Cuba (W. Suarez) In Spanish
www.redciencia.cu/cdorigen/arca/paper/williav.pdf

[another specialist]

Nesotrochis picapicensis
(Fischer & Stephan) 1971
Quaternary of Cuba
Primary materials: Holotype: left humerus
Secondary materials: Other: Humeri, pelvis, femora, tibiotarsi, tarsometatarsi, vertebrae, cranium

Karlheinz Fischer & B. Stephan,
Weitere Vogelreste aus dem Pleistozän der Pio-Domingo-Höhle in Kuba
Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Humboldt-Universität Berlin Math.-Nat. R. 20 (1971): 593-607

www.ornitaxa.com/SM/Fossil/FossilRalli.htm

[surroundx]

Orihuela, Johanset. (2019). An annotated list of late Quaternary extinct birds of Cuba. Ornitología Neotropical 30: 57-67.

[Sebbe]

Suárez, W. (2022): Catalogue of Cuban fossil and subfossil birds.Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, 142(1): 10-74.

bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-british-ornithologists-club/volume-142/issue-1/bboc.v142i1.2022.a3/Catalogue-of-Cuban-fossil-and-subfossil-birds/10.25226/bboc.v142i1.2022.a3.full

[Sebbe]

NEW QUATERNARY FOSSILS FROM HIGH ELEVATION CAVE DEPOSITS IN CUBA.

High elevation fossil deposits in Cuba have been poorly studied, and there is a limited understanding of how altitudinal changes could have affected the composition of faunal communities in the past. Here, we report fossils of 13 vertebrate species and an invertebrate from 11 late Quaternary cave deposits at elevations ranging from 532 to 1123 meters above sea level, located in the Guamuhaya Masiff in central Cuba. The composition of the vertebrate fauna assemblages recovered from these localities resembles that known from other lowland deposits and includes eight extinct, one extirpated, and four extant species. Furthermore, the specimens reported here record the highest elevation known for nine species recovered.

www.novitatescaribaea.do/index.php/novitates/article/view/359

[Sebbe]

Assessing the role of humans in Greater Antillean land vertebrate extinctions: new insights from Cuba.

The Caribbean archipelago is a hotspot of biodiversity characterized by a high rate of extinction. Recent studies have examined these losses, but the causes of the Antillean Late Quaternary vertebrate extinctions, and especially the role of humans, are still unclear. Previous results provide support for climate-related and human-induced extinctions, but often downplaying other complex bio-ecological factors that are difficult to model or to detect from the fossil and archaeological record. Here, we discuss Caribbean vertebrate extinctions and the potential role of humans derived from new and existing fossil and archaeological data from Cuba. Our results indicate that losses of Cuba’s native fauna occurred in waves: one during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, a second during the middle Holocene, and a third one during the last 2 ka, combining the arrival of agroceramists and later of Europeans. The coexistence of now-extinct species with multiple cultural groups in Cuba for over 4 ka implies that Cuban indigenous nonceramic cultures exerted far fewer extinction pressures to native fauna than the later agroceramists and Europeans that followed. This suggests a determinant value to increased technological sophistication and demographics as plausible effective extinction drivers. Beyond looking at dates of first human arrival alone, future studies should also consider cultural diversity with attention to different bio-ecological factors that influence these biodiversity changes.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.27.922237v3.full