† Pulsatrix arredondoi Brodkorb, 1969

Arredondo’s Owl; Búho de Arredondo

(Figure 12: C–D)

Pulsatrix arredondoi Brodkorb, 1969, Quart. Jour. Florida Acad. Sci., Vol. 31, no.2, p.112.

Referred material. San Felipe II: Proximal half of the left tarsometatarsus, MNHNCu 75.4808.

Description. The tarsometatarsus MNHNCu 75.4808, despite being fragmentary, does not match that of any other Cuban owl in its size and robustness (Fig. 12 C–D). It is referred to Pulsatrix arredondoi Brodkorb, 1969, by the shortness of its preserved shaft and by the marked anteroposterior curvature, diagnostic of this taxon (Brodkorb 1969; Arredondo & González Gotera 1982). The bone is also wide and recall the proportions in the much smaller tarsometatarsi present in species of Glaucidium Boie, but also Surnia Linnaeus.

Measurements (holotype of Pulsatrix arredondoi in parentheses, after Brodkorb 1969:113). Tarsometatarsus.—Proximal width: 12.0 (14.1); length of the base of the inner calcaneal ridge: 13.0 (13.6); depth of the outer edge: 4.4 (4.1).

Comments. This is the first record of the species for Las Breas de San Felipe. Pulsatrix arredondoi is known from caves deposits located in western and central Cuba (Arredondo 1984; Cuello 1988; Arredondo & Olson 1994; O. Jiménez Vázquez comm. pers. 2011).