Progne sp.

Orihuela, Johanset, Orozco, Leonel Pérez, Álvarez Licourt, Jorge L., Viera Muñoz, Ricardo A. & Barani, Candido Santana, 2020, Late Holocene land vertebrate fauna from Cueva de los Nesofontes, Western Cuba: Stratigraphy, chronology, diversity, and paleoecology, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 57) 23 (3), pp. 1-46 : 17

Progne sp. cf. cryptoleuca (Baird, 1865) or P.subis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Figure 5.4

Material. Incomplete, distal left coracoid, stained brown red (field number 1624), from layer H (level III) ( Figure 4 ).

Description. This specimen may represent a juvenile because of its porosity and rounded sternal facet ( Figure 5.4 ). Measurements: GDW 4.39 mm and GSW 1.75 mm.

Taxonomic remarks. This coracoid represents a swallow larger than any other of the species present in Cuba . In morphology, it is like P. subis but slightly smaller. The purple martin ( P. subis ) and the Cuban martin ( P. cryptoleuca ) are common in Cuba . The first is a common transient between August and March, whereas the second is a common resident nearly year-round (Garrido and Kirkconnell, 2000, p. 168). Neither species has been previously reported from the paleontological or archaeological record of Cuba .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Lateral profile of test pit D with source radiocarbon dates, oxygen stable isotopes, and NTAXA diversity by intervals. The fauna and multi-proxy analyses described in the text are from this excavation. The red lines indicate the major disconformities/erosional surfaces.

FIGURE 5. Bird fossil and subfossil remains from test pit D. 1, Cathartes aura maxilla in lateral and dorsal view. 2, proximal tibiotarsus of Colaptes cf. fernandinae. 3, the humerus of Psittacara eups. 4, distal coracoid of Progne cf. cryptoleuca or subis. 5, humerus of Tachycineta bicolor (FLMNH-UF 17685); 6, humerus of Tachycineta cf. bicolor. 7, humerus of Geotrygon cf. chrysia. 8, humerus of Sphyrapicus varius. 9, humerus of Melanerpes superciliaris. 10, tarsometatarsus (left) and humerus of Margarobyas lawrencii. 11, humerus of Saurothera merlini. The numbers on specimens are field numbers. Each scale bar represents 10 mm.