22. † Tyto pollens Wetmore, 1937

Bahamian Giant Barn Owl (Lechuza Gigante de las Bahamas)

Tyto pollens Wetmore, 1937, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl. 80: 436.

Tyto riveroi: Arredondo 1972b: 131.

T [yto]. Triveroi: Arredondo 1982: 36 (typographical error).

Tyto pollens: Suárez & Olson 2015: 539.

History.— 1937: Vivienne Knowles collects the type series in the Bahamas and the original description (October) of T. pollens is published (Wetmore 1937). 3 June 1959: additional specimens from Banana Hole, New Providence, Bahamas, are described and illustrated by Brodkorb (1959: 357–358, pl. 1, figs. 5 = tibiotarsus [anterior], 6 = tarsometatarsus [anterior]). April 1970: Manuel Rivero de la Calle presents to O. Arredondo the first known material from Cuba, collected in ‘Galería de los Megalocnus’, Cueva de Bellamar, western Cuba (Arredondo 1972b: 131). 1972: original description of ‘ Tyto riveroi ’ published (Arredondo 1972b). 23 September 2015: first direct comparisons between Bahamian and Cuban giant barn owls (including previously unrecorded material) reveal ‘ Tyto riveroi ’ to be a junior subjective synonym of T. pollens, and expand the ancient range of the latter to Cuba (Suárez & Olson 2015).

Holotype.—Left femur, MCZ 2262 (Wetmore 1937: 436–437, figs. 10* [anterior], 11* [posterior], 12* [lateral], 13* [distal], 14* [medial]). Collected during early 1937 by Vivienne Knowles (Wetmore 1937: 427, 437).

Type locality.—Cave deposit on ‘Great Exuma [= Little Exuma fide Hecht 1955]’, Bahama Islands (Wetmore 1937: 437; see Suárez & Olson 2015: 540).

Referred material.— Tarsometatarsus: proximal half of right, CZACC unnumbered; proximal end of right, OA 3215 (Suárez & Olson 2015: 539, fig. 6: D [anterior]); distal half of left, DPUH 1252 (holotype of ‘ T. riveroi ’, Arredondo 1972b: 132, figs. 1 [anterior], 2 [posterior], 3 [lateral], 4* = reversed: D, top row [distal], bottom row [anterior], Arredondo 1976: 185, fig. 11: C [anterior], D [posterior], E [lateral], 1982: 39, fig. 2*: left [anterior], right [posterior]). Collected by Manuel Rivero de la Calle in ‘Galería de los Megalocnus’, Cueva de Bellamar (see Arredondo 1972b: 131, Suárez & Olson 2015: 540).

Distribution.—Cave deposit in west Cuba (see Appendix). Matanzas. Matanzas: MBE (Arredondo 1972b: 132 [‘ Tyto riveroi sp. nov. ’], Suárez & Olson 2015: 539). For fossil localities in the Bahamas see Wetmore (1937: 437), Brodkorb (1959: 357–358), Olson & Hilgartner (1982: 36–37), Suárez & Olson (2015: 540) and Steadman & Franklin (2020: SI appendix, table S1).

Direct 14 C dating .—None.

Notes.—The largest Tyto in the Americas (Olson & Hilgartner 1982: 36, Steadman & Hilgartner 1999: 79, Suárez & Olson 2015: 540) and the rarest of the giant barn owls in Cuban fossil deposits (see ‘Notes’ under T. cravesae). T. pollens probably evolved in Cuba and subsequently colonised the Bahamas (Suárez & Olson 2015: 549), where it is recorded from Quaternary deposits on some islands of the Great Bahama Bank (Suárez & Olson 2015, Steadman & Franklin 2020).