Rallus

Alcover, Josep Antoni, Pieper, Harald, Pereira, Fernando & Rando, Juan Carlos, 2015, Five new extinct species of rails (Aves: Gruiformes: Rallidae) from the Macaronesian Islands (North Atlantic Ocean), Zootaxa 4057 (2), pp. 151-190 : 161

Rallus sp.

[ Figure 4 ]

Three further bones from the Madeiran archipelago do not match the taxa previously discussed, because of their absolute size, proportions and morphology. A femur and a tibiotarsus from Madeira and a tarsometarsus from Porto Santo are larger than the remaining material from the islands and fall within the size range of R. aquaticus , R. limicola and R. longirostris . We are unsure about their species attribution, and consequently refer them to Rallus sp.

Material: MMF 43478, R tbt, “Ribeira Groh”, Madeira, 17/ 18 Sept 1994, coll. HP; MMF 43479, R fem, “Main Sand Place”, Madeira, 1985, coll. HP. MMF 43480, L tmt, Fonte da Areia, Porto Santo, 1982, coll. HP.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Bones of Rallus sp. from Madeira and Porto Santo. A, MMF 43479, R femur (1, cranial view; 2, caudolateral view). B, MMF 43478, R tibiotarsus (1, cranial view; 2, caudal view). C, MMF 43480, L tarsometatarsus. (1, dorsal view; 2, plantar view). Scale bar: 2 cm.