Scolopax anthonyi is a prehistoric species of woodcock in the family Scolopacidae that was once endemic to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.
| Scolopax anthonyi Temporal range: Late Quaternary
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Scolopacidae |
| Genus: | Scolopax |
| Species: | †S. anthonyi
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| Binomial name | |
| †Scolopax anthonyi (Wetmore, 1920)
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| Synonyms | |
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Gallinago anthonyi (Wetmore, 1920) Scolopax anthonyi (Olson, 1976) | |
Taxonomy
editIts fossil remains were initially identified as belonging to a snipe of the genus Gallinago, but a re-analysis of the bones in 1976 indicated that they belonged to a woodcock. It has more osteological similarities to the Eurasian woodcock than the American woodcock, a trait it shares with the also extinct Scolopax brachycarpa of Hispaniola. Both of these species may have belonged to a distinct insular radiation in the Caribbean, which are now extinct.[1]
Description
editScolopax anthonyi had reduced wings compared to other species in the genus, indicating that it may have had a more terrestrial lifestyle or even may have been flightless. It likely lived in a forested habitat, like extant members of the genus. Little is known about the cause for its extinction.[2]
References
edit- ^ "A new species of Woodcock (Aves: Scolopacidae: Scolopax) from Hispaniola, West Indies | Request PDF". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
- ^ Hume, Julian P. (2017). Extinct Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978-1472937445.