Corvus palmarum Württemberg, 1835

Suárez, William, 2020, The fossil avifauna of the tar seeps Las Breas de San Felipe, Matanzas, Cuba, Zootaxa 4780 (1), pp. 1-53 : 38

Corvus palmarum Württemberg, 1835

Palm Crow; Cao Pinalero

Corvus palmarum Württemberg, 1835 , Erst. Reis nörd. Amer., P. 68.

Referred material. San Felipe II: left tarsometatarsus without proximal end, MNHNCu 75. 4816.

Description. Tarsometatarsus slender in comparison with the corresponding element in the skeleton of Corvus nasicus Temminck, 1826 .

Measurements. Tarsometatarsus: Total length: 55.5; proximal width: 8.6; width and depth of shaft at midpoint: 3.4–4.2; distal width: 6.1.

Comments. The Palm Crow is a rare species in Cuba today, but locally common in some points of its current relictual distribution ( Garrido & Kirkconnell 2011:191). Abundant material has been recovered in cave deposits of Artemisa Province ( Suárez & Arredondo 1997:101; Suárez 2000b: 64, table 1), providing evidence of a greater former distribution within the Cuban archipelago. This species does not currently live in the Province of Matanzas, since it is limited to a few localities in open areas of the provinces of Pinar del Río (possibly extirpated population; Suárez per. obs. 2001) and Camagüey ( Garrido & Kirkconnell 2011: 191).