Caracara creightoni Brodkorb, 1959

Suárez, William, 2022, Catalogue of Cuban fossil and subfossil birds, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 142 (1), pp. 247-248 : 52-53

30. † Caracara creightoni Brodkorb, 1959

Creighton’s Caracara (Caraira de Creighton)

Caracara creightoni Brodkorb, 1959 , Bull. Fla. State Mus. 4: 353.

Polyborus plancus : Olson 1976: 363.

Polyborus creightoni : Olson 1982: 36.

Caracara plancus ssp.: Jiménez Vázquez 1997a: 49.

Caracara creigthoni : Suárez 2000a:120 (lapsus calami).

Caracara creigthoni : Suárez 2004c:1, 10 (lapsus calami).

Caracara creigthoni : Suárez 2020a: table 1 (lapsus calami).

History.— 28 August 1958: holotype collected by J. C. Dickinson and W. Auffenberg at a cave deposit in the Bahamas ( Brodkorb 1959: 353, 1964: 292). 3 June 1959: original description published ( Brodkorb 1959). 22 January 1976: the single specimen known is considered a synonym ( Olson 1976: 363) of living C. plancus (J. F. Miller, 1777) . 5 August 1982: two additional fossils, a left quadrate and a distal end of a left tibiotarsus from the type locality provide characters to support the extinct species’ validity ( Olson & Hilgartner 1982: 28–31, fig. 2: B = tibiotarsus [anterior], D = idem [distal], F = quadrate [medial], H = idem [ventral]). Winter 1997: first record published from Cuba based on specimens from two cave deposits in the west ( Suárez & Arredondo 1997: 101). 25 May 2001: species redescribed on basis of cranial and postcranial material from cave and sinkhole deposits in central and west Cuba ( Suárez & Olson 2001a). 11 August 2003: identified in tar seeps at Las Breas de San Felipe, with description of previously unknown skeletal elements ( Suárez & Olson 2003c: 307; see Suárez 2020a: 32–35). 11 December 2007: a well-preserved skull and its respective mandible reported from a blue hole, Sawmill Sink, Great Abaco, Bahamas ( Steadman et al. 2007: fig. 6 [lateral]). 3 October 2014: first direct 14 C dating on material (femur) from Great Abaco, Bahamas ( Steadman & Franklin 2015: table 2, fig. 3: a [posterior], b [anterior]). November 2019: mitochondrial genome data obtained from a late Holocene (2,500 yr BP) right femur, Great Abaco, Bahamas ( Oswald et al. 2019).

Holotype.—Incomplete left carpometacarpus, UF 3153 ( Brodkorb 1959: 353, pl. 1, fig. 7 [lateral]). Collected 28 August 1958 by J. C. Dickinson and W. Auffenberg ( Brodkorb 1959: 353, 1964: 292).

Type locality.—Banana Hole, New Providence Island, Bahamas ( Brodkorb 1959: 351; see Olson & Pregill 1982: 4–5).

Referred material.— Skull: incomplete, OA 3928 ( Suárez & Olson 2001b: 502, figs. 1B [lateral], 2B [dorsal]); rostrum, MNHNCu 75.4742 (Suárez 2020a: 32, fig. 13: A [lateral], B [dorsal]). Notarium: fragmentary, MNHNCu 75.4579. Humerus: proximal end of right, WS 1035 ( Suárez & Olson 2003c: 305, fig. 2C [anconal]); shaft of right, MNHNCu 75.4759; left lacking proximal end, MNHNCu 75.4817 (Suárez 2020a: 32, fig. 13C [palmal]); proximal half of left, MNHNCu 75.4818 (Suárez 2020a: 32, fig. 13D [palmal]). Ulna: left, MPSG 75 ( Suárez & Olson 2001b: 502, fig. 3A: left [internal]). Carpometacarpus: right lacking minor metacarpal, MPSG 77 ( Suárez & Olson 2001b: 502, fig. 3B: left [internal]); left, MNHNCu 75.4819 (Suárez 2020a: 32, fig. 13E [internal]); proximal half of left, MPSG 110. Femur: left, WS 1933 ( Suárez & Olson 2003c: 305, fig. 2A [anterior], Jones et al. 2013, fig. 5*: 5 [posterior]); distal end of left, WS 0209; proximal half of right, WS 0142; proximal end of right, WS 587. Tibiotarsus: left lacking internal condyle, MPSG 79 ( Suárez & Olson 2001b: 502, fig. 3D: left [anterior]); distal end of right lacking posterior rim of internal condyle, MPSG 83; distal halves of right, MNHNCu 75.4852–4853; distal ends of right, MNHNCu 75.4854–4856; shaft of left, MNHNCu 75.4851; distal ends of right, MNHNCu 75.4584–4585; distal ends of left, MNHNCu 75.4580–4583. Tarsometatarsus: right, MNHNCu 75.4820 (Suárez 2020a: 32, fig. 13: D [anterior]) and 75.4827–4828; proximal halves of right, MNHNCu 75.4844–4847; proximal ends of right, MNHNCu 75.4848–4850; right lacking proximal ends, MNHNCu 75.4829–4831; distal end of right, MNHNCu 75.4839; left, MPSG 103 ( Suárez & Olson 2001b: 502, fig. 3C: left [anterior]); left without distal end, MNHNCu 75.4840; proximal ends of left, MNHNCu 75.4841–4843; distal halves of left, MNHNCu 75.4832–4835, MPSG 106; distal ends of left, MNHNCu 75.4592–4593, MNHNCu 75.4836–4838; distal ends of right, MNHNCu 75.4586–4591.

Distribution.—Cave, asphalt and sinkhole deposits in west and central Cuba (see Appendix). Artemisa. Caimito: ACP ( Suárez & Olson 2003c: 305), ASA ( Suárez & Arredondo 1997: 101, Suárez 2000b: table 1 [‘ Caracara sp. ’], Suárez & Olson 2003c: 305). Mayabeque. Quivicán: YTU ( Suárez & Olson 2003c: 307 [‘ Caracara plancus ssp.’ of Jiménez Vázquez 1997a: 49]). Matanzas. Cárdenas: MCA ( Suárez & Arredondo 1997: 101, Suárez & Olson 2001b: 502), Martí: MLB ( Iturralde-Vinent et al. 2000: table 2 [‘ Caracara sp. ’], Suárez & Olson 2003c: 307, Suárez 2020a: 32). Jagüey Grande: MFJ (cf. CLV). Villa Clara. Corralillo: VSM ( Suárez & Olson 2001b: 502, Arredondo Antúnez & Villavicencio Finalet 2006: tables I–II).

Direct 14 C dating .—None from Cuba. Bahamas, Late Holocene (Sawmill Sink): 2,650 to 2,350 Cal BP ( Steadman & Franklin 2015: table 2, femur).

Notes.—Common in Quaternary deposits in Cuba, from where the species seems to have originated and subsequently colonised the Lucayan Archipelago. Recorded from Cuba by Suárez & Arredondo (1997: 101), with additional material subsequently reported and the species redescribed ( Suárez & Olson 2001b, 2003c, Suárez 2020a). One record from Dolphin Cave on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands ( Morgan 1994: 480 [‘ Polyborus creightoni ’]) is considered erroneous ( Suárez & Olson 2001b: 507, Olson 2008: 265). The main features of Creighton’s Caracara vs. congenerics is the presence of a massive and differently shaped rostrum ( Suárez & Olson 2001b: 502, 2014: 308, Suárez 2020a: 33). Orihuela (2019: 61) commented that ‘ Suárez & Olson (2001a) hypothesised a recent arrival to Cuba [of C. creightoni ], along with Cathartes .’ but this is a misinterpretation (see Suárez 2020a: 35). Figueredo (2011: 11) cited the species as ‘ave de rapiña sin vuelo’ [‘flightless bird of prey’], which is incorrect. For material and distribution of C. creightoni in the Bahamas, see Brodkorb (1959), Olson (1976), Olson & Hilgartner (1982), Steadman et al. (2007) and Steadman & Franklin (2015, 2020).