|
The Puerto Rican quail-dove (''Geotrygon larva'') is an extinct species of dove from the genus of quail-doves (''Geotrygon''). It is only known by subfossil material from the Holocene. Remains of the Puerto Rican quail-dove were unearthed in the caves Cueva Clara and Cueva Catedral near Morovis, in the cave Cueva Toraño at Utuado and in a kitchen midden near Mayagüez on Puerto Rico. The holotype, a tarsometatarsus, was discovered in July 1916 by zoologist Harold Elmer Anthony in the cave Cueva Clara. According to Alexander Wetmore〔Alexander Wetmore: ''Five New Species of Birds from Cave Deposits In Porto Rico'' In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 1920:p 79–80〕 who described this species it was related to the grey-fronted quail-dove (''Geotrygon caniceps'') which occurs on Cuba and on the Dominican Republic. However, the tarsometatarsus of the Puerto Rican quail-dove is longer than in the grey-fronted quail-dove. Compared with the ruddy quail-dove (''Geotrygon montana''), which occurs on Puerto Rico too, the tarsometatarsi are more slender. The amount of the unearthed material led to the assumption that the Puerto Rican quail-dove might have been a common bird before the arrival of the first settlers. Probably it became a victim of the extensive deforestations. ==Notes== 〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Puerto Rican quail-dove」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|