(1992: 28, table 1) from cave deposits in Pinar del Río Province, were based on part of the type material ofīrodkorb (1959: 357) considered the possibility that We were able to make direct comparisons of that specimen (OA 3215) with the tarsometatarsus ofĪnd there are no other distinctions to be made between them. These fossils had never been mentioned in the literature, even though one of them was included in Arredondo’s paleontological collection. This material (topotypes) includes two proximal ends of right tarsometatarsi lacking articular surfaces (see Material examined), collected by Manuel Rivero de la Calle at the same time and place as the holotype. We have located additional specimens from Cuba that are referable to Were all of about the same size, therefore makingĭistinctive by its greater size, which is not correct. For reasons discussed below, Arredondo was always under the impression that , based on the distal half of a tarsometatarsus from a cave deposit in Matanzas Province, Cuba, that was much larger than May not have existed until introduced by Amerindians (see Olson & Hilgartner 1982).Īrredondo (1972 b) described a new species, Is as yet no evidence of the species from the islands of the Little Bahama Bank, where Was present on all of the islands of the Great Bahama Bank inhabited by ), but the former can be recognized by its decided robustness and other characters (see Wetmore 1937 Brodkorb 1959 Olson & Hilgartner 1982). Otherwise, the new material mentioned above provides evidence of overlap in size between Is much larger and more robust than in any specimen ofĪvailable suggesting a proportionately larger wing in the former. The owl remains were decidedly scarce in comparison with bones of its principal prey, the Bahaman hutia This consisted of a coracoid, carpometacarpus, tarsometatarsus, and few pedal phalanges. Was collected by an expedition of the Smithsonian Institution in 1990 from Hendry Cave, Royal Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas. Additional material from the same site was reported by Olson & Hilgartner (1982), who confirmed its distinction from Of Hispaniola with the trochanteric ridge larger and more robust ( Wetmore 1937: 436).įrom deposits in Banana Hole, New Providence Island.

The femur was characterized as slightly larger than that of It was later determined that the cave was located on Little Exuma ( Hecht 1955). The species was originally named from a nearly complete femur (the holotype), an incomplete coracoid, the shaft of a major metacarpal, and the “head” of a tibiotarsus, from cave deposits thought to have come from the island Great Exuma in the Bahamas ( Wetmore 1937). This is the rarest, largest, and most robust of the Antillean barn owls, as well as being the largest representative of the genus Bahamas, islands of the Great Bahama Bank Cuba, Matanzas Province (see Fig.

Measurements of the three fragmentary tarsometatarsi ofįrom the Bahamas (in parentheses, from Brodkorb 1959: 357, table 2): least width of shaft 8.4, 8.5 (8.6) width through trochleae, 21.5 (21.2) width of shaft at level of distalmost proximal foramen 13.6, 14.4 (13.7), depth through calcaneal ridge 13.9 (13.4).ĭistribution. There also exist specimens from Andros, Bahamas, in the Florida Museum of Natural History (D. ), proximal half of right ( CZACC unnumbered), proximal end of right (OA 3215). Tarsometatarsus: distal half of left ( DPUH 1252, holotype of Tarsometatarsus: complete left (UF 3196), incomplete left (UF 41808, lacking proximal end and trochlea for digit IV).Ĭueva de Bellamar, Municipality of Matanzas, Matanzas Province, Cuba. Tibiotarsus: distal half of left (UF 41804). Tarsometatarsus: incomplete left ( USNM 615827, lacking fragments of midshaft).īanana Hole, New Providence, Bahamas. Carpometacarpus: nearly complete right ( USNM 615826). Coracoid: incomplete right ( USNM 615825). Hendry Cave, Royal Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas. al Sur de la costa interior de la Bahía de Matanzas, Municipio de Matanzas,” Matanzas Province, Cuba). , new synonymy (type-locality “Cueva de Bellamar, poco más de 1 Km. (type-locality “cave deposits on Great Exuma, Bahama Islands” = Little Exuma Island fide Hecht, 1955). Bahaman Giant Barn Owl Lechuza Gigante de Las Bahamas ( Fig.

Lechuza gigante