The Barbados rail is a fossil rail species endemic to Barbados with an undetermined taxonomic status.[2] It was formerly described by Pierce Brodkorb in 1965 as Fulica podagrica.[3] However, this classification has been questioned by Storrs Olson when he described Brodkorb's material anew in 1974.[2] It is only known by Brodkorb's holotype which consists of a humerus and several leg elements including femur, tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus fragments.[3] The humerus may not be specifically distinct from those of the American coot (Fulica americana) but most of the femur, tibiotarsus and tarsometarsus fragments are from a yet undescribed larger rail of an undetermined genus not related to Fulica.[3] Olson further assumed that Brodkorb's material might be a composite of several rail species.[3] The bone fragments were unearthed in Late Pleistocene deposits in Saint Philip Parish and Ragged Point on Barbados.[3]
| Barbados rail Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Fulica |
| Species: | †F. podagrica
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Fulica podagrica | |
Etymology
editBrodkorb's previous species epithet is derived from the Greek term podagrikos (which means affected with gout). This applied in allusion to the large size of the leg elements.[3]
References
edit- ^ P. Brodkorb. 1965. Fossil birds from Barbados, West Indies. The Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society 31(1):3–10
- ^ a b Storrs Olson: A new species of Nesotrochis from Hispaniola, with notes on other fossil rails from the West Indies (Aves: Rallidae) In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 87, 38:p 439-450, 1974
- ^ a b c d e f Storrs Olson: A synopsis on the fossil Rallidae In: Sidney Dillon Ripley: Rails of the World – A Monograph of the Family Rallidae. Codline. Boston, 1977. ISBN 0-87474-804-6
Further reading
edit- P. Brodkorb. 1967. Catalogue of fossil birds: Part 3 (Ralliformes, Ichthyornithiformes, Charadriiformes). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences 11(3):99–220 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen]
- S. L. Olson. 1977. A synopsis of the fossil Rallidae. In S. D. Ripley (ed.), Rails of the World 339–378 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen]