Porzana ziegleri, new species
(Figs. 15C, G, 16A)
"small Oahu rail" Olson and James, 1982b:36; 1984:771; James, 1987:225.
"Porzana sp., small flightless rail" James, 1987:227.
Holotype: Right tarsometatarsus, USNM 385877 (Fig. 15G). Collected 4 April
1980 by Storrs L. Olson, Helen F. James, Ald Sinoto, and Eric Komori.
Type locality: Site 50-Oa-B6-22, Barbers Point, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands.
Distribution: Oahu: Barbers Point (including some sites that are purely archeological),
Ulupau Head.
Etymology: To Alan C. Ziegler, whose hospitality and assistance to our Hawaiian
researches have been unbounded.
Measurements (ram) ofholotype: Length, 21.5; proximal width, 3.4; shaft width
at midpoint, 1.6; distal width, 3.3.
Paratypes: Cranium and associated mandible (Fig. 15C), BBM-X 153681; premaxillary
symphysis and part of dorsal bar, USNM 426102; pelvis lacking posterior
part of right innominate, USNM 426103; right humeri, USNM 385867
(Fig. 16A), 385868; left humeri, USNM 385843, 426104, BBM-X 158072; right
ulnae, USNM 385874, 385878 (Fig. 16A); left ulnae, USNM 426105, BBM-X
157787; right carpometacarpus, USNM 426106 (Fig. 16A); left carpometacarpi,
USNM 426107, 426108; right femora, USNM 385850, 385864, 426109, BBM-X
157790; left femora, USNM 385844, 385849, 385871; proximal end of right
tibiotarsus, USNM 385851, distal end of right tibiotarsus, USNM 385854; left
tibiotarsus, USNM 426110; left tibiotarsus lacking proximal end, USNM 385862;
distal end of left tibiotarsus, USNM 385853; right tarsometatarsi, USNM 385856,
385863, 385865, 385870, 426111, 426112, 426113, BBM-X 157797, 157798;
left tarsometatarsi, USNM 385861; BBM-X 158074.
Measurements (ram) ofparatypes: (These are in the same sequence as the preceding.)--
Premaxillary symphysis: length, 7.8. Cranium: length from nasofrontal
hinge, 21.8; width, 13.1. Mandible: overall length, 33.2; length of symphysis, 6.0.
Pelvis: length of synsacrum, 19.2; width across antitrochanters, 10.6. Humerus:
length, 18.9, 17.7, 17.9, 18.2. Ulna: length, 12.6, 13.2, 12.9, 12.7. Carpometacarpus:
length, 8.3, 8.3, 8.5. Femur: length, 23.1, 23.3, 24.6, 25.9, 24.2, 23.8,
23.3; proximal width, 3.9, 4.2, 3.7, --, 3.9, --, --; shaft width at midpoint, 1.5,
1.6, 1.5, 1.6, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5; distalwidth, , ,3.7, 4.1, 3.9, 3.8, 4.0. Tibiotarsus:
length, 33.3; distal width, 3.2, 3.4, 3.3, 3.3. Tarsometatarsus: length, 22.3, 22.6,
21.3, 22.0, 20.6, 21.0, 21.0, 23.6, 21.9, 20.9, 22.0; proximal width, 3.2, 3.4, 3.4,
3.6, 3.4, 3.3, 3.5, 3.7, 3.5, 3.3, 3.5; shaft width at midpoint, 1.8, 1.8, 1.9, 1.8,
1.7, 1.7, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.6, 1.6; distal width, --, 3.7, 3.6, 3.6, 3.5, 3.6, 3.6, 3.8,
3.6, 3.5, 3.5.
Diagnosis: Larger than P. menehune but smaller than any other species of
Hawaiian Rallidae except P. keplerorum. Extremely similar in size and morphology
to P. keplerorum except the premaxillary symphysis is longer and more
slender and the wing elements are markedly less reduced, the humerus being
larger, with the distal end more expanded; also, the proximo-anterior surface of
the tarsometatarsus is not as excavated and the distal foramen is smaller.
Remarks: See P. keplerorum. A single right tarsometatarsus (USNM 426114)
is considerably larger than any in the type series (length, 24.1; proximal width,
3.7; shaft width at midpoint, 1.9; distal width, 3.8), but otherwise shows no
distinguishing features. This may be from an unrecognized medium-sized species
of rail that inhabited Oahu or it could be from a very large individual ofP. ziegleri.
There appear to be exceptionally large or small individuals in the series of P.
menehune and P. keplerorum as well.
elibrary.unm.edu/sora/om/om045.pdf
