Nesotrochis picapicensis (Fischer & Stephan, 1971)

Suárez, William, 2022, Catalogue of Cuban fossil and subfossil birds, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 142 (1), pp. 247-248 : 17-19

2. † Nesotrochis picapicensis (Fischer & Stephan, 1971)

Pica-Pica’s Rail (Gallinuela de Pica-Pica)

Fulica picapicensis Fischer & Stephan, 1971b (part), Wiss. Zeitsch. Humboldt-Univ. Berlin, Math.- Nat . R. 20: 595. Fulica picapicensis : Fischer & Stephan 1971b: 595 (part).

Nesotrochis picapicensis : Olson 1974: 441.

Nesotrochis picapicebsis : Jiménez Vázquez & Arrazcaeta Delgado 2015: 142 (lapsus calami).

Nesotrochis picipicensis : Oswald et al. 2021: 2 (lapsus calami).

Fulica picipicensis : Oswald et al. 2021: 2 (lapsus calami).

History.— Summer 1967: members of the Cuban-German Expedition (Universidad de La Habana & Institut für Paläontologie und Museum der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) collect the type material in western Cuba ( Castellanos 1968: 4, Fischer 1968: 270, 1970). 1971: original description of Fulica picapicensis published ( Fischer & Stephan 1971b: 595–597). 31 December 1974: Antillean extinct genus Nesotrochis identified from Cuba, leading to the new combination N. picapicensis ( Olson 1974: 441, see ‘Notes’). September 1995: first record outside the type locality, in Cueva del Indio, Mayabeque (formerly La Habana) province ( Jiménez Vázquez & Valdés Ruiz 1995: 62). 27 August 2019: morphology of the hypotarsus in Nesotrochis indicates it is not a Rallidae ( Mayr 2019) , but shares osteological characters with flufftails, Sarothruridae (Africa and New Guinea) and related taxa ( Heliornithidae ). 17 March 2021: mitochondrial genome analysis of N. steganinos Olson, 1974 (Hispaniola) corroborates that the genus is not a rallid ( Oswald et al. 2021), but a sister taxon to Sarothruridae and the extinct flightless Aptornithidae ( New Zealand).

Holotype.—Left humerus, Av. 832/67, at CZACC ( Fischer & Stephan 1971b: 595, fig. 9: a [anconal], b [palmar], Olson 1977: 352, fig. 1b: bottom [anconal]). Collected summer 1967 by members of the Cuban-German Expedition [= Wolfgang Reichel, Hans-Hartmat Krueger, Karlheinz Fischer, Gustavo Furrazola Bermúdez, Manuel Acevedo González, Néstor Mayo and Manuel Iturralde Vinent ( Castellanos 1968: 4)] in El Abismo [= Furnia del Aguacero, or del Abismo] at the type locality (see Fischer & Stephan 1971a: 541, b: 593).

Other material.— Skull: incomplete, Av. 833/67 (fig. 8: a [dorsal]). Vertebra: cervical, Av. 834–838/67; thoracic, Av. 839/67. Humerus: right, Av. 840–841/67 +; left, Av. 842/67 +. Ulna: see ‘Notes’. Pelvis: incomplete, Av. 844 (Figs. 11a [dorsal], 12a [lateral]) to 849/67 +. Femur: right, Av. 850 (fig. 13a [posterior]) to 851/67; proximal right, Av. 852/67 +; left, Av. 853/67 +. Tibiotarsus: right, Av. 854/67; proximal right, Av. 855–857/67; left, Av. 858 (fig. 14: a [anterior], b [posterior]) to 860/67 +; proximal left, Av. 861–862/67 +; distal left, Av. 863–864/67 +. Tarsometatarsus: right, Av. 865 (fig. 15a [anterior]; Olson 1977: 352, fig. 1B: top [anterior]), 866/67 +, and Av. 867/67 (the last is immature); proximal right, Av. 868/67; distal right, Av. 869–870/67; left, Av. 871/67 + (immature); proximal left, Av. 872/67 +; distal left, Av. 873–874/67 +. Cited figures from pl. 2–6 of Fischer & Stephan (1971b), other than when indicated. The annotation (+) indicates specimens (= paratypes) at CZACC (see comments in Arredondo 1984: 14 and Livezey 2003: 55).

Type locality.— Caverna de Pío Domingo ( PPD), Sierra de Sumidero, municipality of Minas de Matahambre, Pinar del Río province, Cuba ( Fischer & Stephan 1971b: 595). Fig. 3 .

Distribution.—Cave deposits in west Cuba (see Appendix). Pinar del Río. Viñales: PMF ( Arredondo & Rivero 1997: 111 [‘ Nesotrochis sp. ’], Jiménez Vázquez 1997b: 97, Arredondo & Arredondo 2000: Anexo 1 [‘ Nesotrochis sp. ’]), Minas de Matahambre: PPD = type locality ( Fischer & Stephan 1971b: 595 [‘ Fulica picapicensis , n. sp. ’]). Artemisa. Caimito: ACP ( Jiménez Vázquez 1997b: 97), ASA (cf. Suárez & Arredondo 1997: 101, Suárez 2000b: table 1, Arredondo & Arredondo 2002a: table 1 [‘ Nesotrochis sp. ’]). Mayabeque. Quivicán: YBL ( Jiménez Vázquez 1997b: 97), San José de las Lajas: YCI ( Jiménez Vázquez & Valdés Ruiz 1995: 62, Jiménez Vázquez 1997b: 97, Rojas Consuegra et al. 2012: 6, 10), Madruga: YCN ( Orihuela 2012: 306–308, tables 1 [‘ Nesotrochis sp. ’] and 3 [‘ Rallidae cf. Nesotrochis sp. ’], fig. 8A = femur [‘ Nesotrochis sp. (cf.) N. picapicensis ’]: left [medial], right [anterior], Orihuela 2019: 61, fig. 3 = idem: A [medial], B [anterior]). Matanzas. Jagüey Grande: MFJ (cf. CLV).

Direct 14 C dating .—None. For indirect dating from relevant Cuban archaeological sites, see Córdova Medina et al. (1997), Jiménez Vázquez (2005), Orihuela (2019), Orihuela et al. (2020b).

Notes.—Bones of this cave rail are common in palaeontological deposits of western Cuba and are abundant in cultural (contra Steadman et al. 2013: 1355) sites (see Jiménez Vázquez 1997b, 2001, Jiménez Vázquez & Arrazcaeta Delgado 2008, 2015). Formerly described as a coot, genus Fulica Linnaeus. One of the paratypes, the incomplete right ulna, Av. 843/67 ( Fischer & Stephan 1971b: 595, fig. 10a [medial]), ‘is not from a rail and is possibly columbid’ ( Olson 1974: 441, footnote). The extinct genus Nesotrochis is endemic to the Greater Antilles but has Old World origins ( Oswald et al. 2021). Three large flightless species (Olson 1977: 352–353, Olson 1978: 107, Cuello 1988: 15; see Livezey 1998) have been described, from the Virgin Islands ( N. debooyi Wetmore, 1918 ), but also present in Puerto Rico ( Wetmore 1922, Olson 1974), Hispaniola ( N. steganinos [= M. sterganinos Arredondo 1984: 15 , lapsus calami]) and Cuba ( N. picapicensis ), and seem to have survived on these islands until recently ( Olson 1974, Jiménez Vázquez & Arrazcaeta Delgado 2008, 2015, Carlson & Steadman 2009). The Cuban species was for some time considered the same bird named ‘Biaya’ or ‘Bambiaya’ by native peoples (cf. Jiménez Vázquez 1997b, 2005), but this is incorrect ( Jiménez Vázquez & Arrazcaeta Delgado 2015: 144). Figueredo (2011: 13) commented that the distribution of Nesotrochis could be extended to the Bahamas, citing Steadman et al. (2007). This appears to be a misinterpretation, as the only flightless rail mentioned in the latter paper (see also Steadman et al. 2013) is ‘ Rallus undescribed sp.’. For a summary of extinct birds in Quaternary deposits of the Bahamas, see Steadman & Franklin (2020).