Falco femoralis Temminck, 1822

Suárez, William, 2022, Catalogue of Cuban fossil and subfossil birds, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 142 (1), pp. 247-248 : 55

34. × Falco femoralis Temminck, 1822

Aplomado Falcon (Halcón Aplomado)

Falco femoralis Temminck, 1822 , Color Planches, livr. 21, pl. 121 and text.

Referred material.— Carpometacarpus: right without minor metacarpal, MNHNCu 75.4606 (fig. 1D: right [internal]); right lacking distal end and minor metacarpal, MNHNCu 75.4607. Tibiotarsus: distal end of left, MNHNCu 75.4608. Tarsometatarsus: proximal end of left, MNHNCu 75.4609 (fig. 1E: right [anterior]). Cited material and figures are from Suárez & Olson (2003b). Collected on 25 February 2001 by Stephen Díaz Franco and WS, in San Felipe I, area C.

Distribution.—Asphalt deposits in west Cuba (see Appendix). Matanzas. Martí: MLB ( Suárez & Olson 2003b: 73).

Direct 14 C dating .—None. For dating of other bird species at MLB, see Antigone cubensis , Gymnogyps varonai and Ornimegalonyx oteroi , and of associated extinct mammals ( Parocnus browni = 11,880 ± 420 to 4,960 ± 280 years 14 C BP), see Jull et al. (2004) and Steadman et al. (2005).

Notes.—Very rare. Fossils from Las Breas de San Felipe are the only available material of this falcon in Cuba ( Suárez & Olson 2003b). The species has also been reported from a prehistoric deposit on Middle Caicos, Bahamas ( Steadman & Franklin 2020).