Buteogallus borrasi

Borrás’s Hawk (Gavilán de Borrás)

Distribution. — Cave, asphalt and sinkhole deposits in west and central Cuba (see Appendix). Artemisa. Caimito: ACP (Arredondo 1970 a: 4 [‘ Aquila borrasi sp. nov. ’ (part), see ‘ Notes’]; 1972 a: table 1 [‘ Aquila borrasi ’ (part)], 1972 c: table 1 [‘ Aquila borrasi ’ (part)], 1975: 151 [‘ Aquila borrasi ’ (part)], 1984: 11 [‘ Aquila borrasi ’ (part)], 12 [‘ Aquila sp. ’], Suárez & Olson 2008: 290 – 291, fig. 1: A = tarsometatarsus [anterior], fig. 2: A = humerus [anconal], B = ulna [palmar], fig. 3: C = tarsometatarsus [anterior], Arredondo & Arredondo 2002 a: table 1 [‘ Titanohierax borrasi ’]), ASA (Suárez 2000 b: table 1 [‘ Titanohierax borrasi ’], Suárez & Olson 2008: 291, fig. 3: E = tibiotarsus [anterior], Arredondo & Arredondo 2002 a: table 1 [‘ Titanohierax borrasi ’]). Bauta: ALA (Fischer 1977: 214 [‘ Aquila sp. ’], Arredondo 1984: 12 [‘ Aquila sp. ’], Suárez & Olson 2008: 291). La Habana. Boyeros: HCI (Arredondo 1984: 9 – 10 [‘ Sarcoramphus sp.? ’, reidentified by Suárez 2001 b: 110, as ‘ Titanohierax borrasi ’, fig. 1 * = ulna: A [internal], B [external], C [distal], see section III, Suárez & Olson 2008: 291). Mayabeque. Quivicán: YTU = type locality (Arredondo 1970 a: 3 – 4 [‘ Aquila borrasi sp. nov. ’], 1971: 96 [‘ Aquila borrasi ’], 1972 a: table 1 [‘ Aquila borrasi ’], 1975: 154 [‘ Aquila borrasi ’], Acevedo González et al. 1975: 18 [‘ Aquila borrasi ’], Arredondo 1976: 175 [‘ Aquila borrasi ’], Suárez & Olson 2008: 291), YIN (Suárez & Olson 2008: 291), YBL (Suárez & Olson 2008: 291, fig. 2 = tibiotarsus [anterior]). San José de las Lajas: YCI (Jiménez Vázquez & Valdés Ruiz 1995: 62 [‘ Titanohierax borrasi ’], Rojas Consuegra et al. 2012: 6, 10 [‘ Titanohierax borrasi ’], Suárez & Olson 2008: 291), YCC (Jiménez & Orihuela 2021: 169). Matanzas. Martí: MLB (Iturralde-Vinent et al. 2000: table 2 [‘ Titanohierax borrasi ’], Suárez & Olson 2008: 291 – 293, Suárez & Olson 2009 b, fig. 1: C = tarsometatarsus [anterior], Suárez 2020 a: 16 – 17, fig. 8 = tarsometatarsus: A [anterior], B [posterior], C [proximal], D = tarsometatarsus [posterior], E = tibiotarsus [anterior], F = idem [distal], G = digit I, phalanx 1 [plantar], H = ungual phalanx, digit II [lateral]). Villa Clara. Corralillo: VSM (Suárez & Olson 2008: 293). Sagua La Grande: VHC (Suárez & Olson 2008: 293). Sancti Spíritus. Yaguajay: SPF (Arredondo 1984: 12 [‘ Aquila sp. ’], Suárez & Olson 2008: 293). Jatibonico: SPL (Aranda et al. 2017: 115 [on p. 118 as ‘ Buteogallus sp. ’], fig. 1 E = digit I, phalanx 1 [ventral], Martínez-López 2019: fig. 5 f – g = digit I, phalanx 1: f [ventral], g [dorsal]). Direct 14 C dating. — None. For dating of other bird species at MLB, see Antigone cubensis, Gymnogyps varonai and Ornimegalonyx oteroi, and of associated extinct mammals (Parocnus browni = 11,880 ± 420 to 4,960 ± 280 years 14 C BP), see Jull et al. (2004) and Steadman et al. (2005). Notes. — The commonest extinct Accipitridae in Cuban fossil deposits (Suárez 2004 a, Suárez & Olson 2008, Suárez 2020 a). Originally described in Aquila Brisson (Arredondo 1970 a), transferred to Titanohierax Wetmore (Olson & Hilgartner 1982), and finally redescribed under Buteogallus (Suárez & Olson 2008), this is an extinct eagle-size hawk with general morphology resembling the living B. urubitinga J. F. Gmelin, 1788, but c. 33 % larger. Material from CCM identified by Wetmore (1928: 3 – 4) as Geranoaetus melanoleucus (Vieillot, 1819) probably is this species (Suárez 2020 a: 17, see section II). Arredondo (1984: 11) commented about some femora from PPD (see also Arredondo 1976: 175) that ‘ parecen corresponder a esta especie’ [‘ seem to correspond to this species’]. I have found no evidence, until now, of large Accipitridae at this locality. The paratype ungual phalanx, digit I, GEC unnumbered, at CZACC, from ACP (see Arredondo 1970 a: 4, figs. 5 * A, 9 * [not figures of SEC P- 31, contra Arredondo & Arredondo 2002 a: 9], table 2), is re-identified herein as Gigantohierax suarezi, based on its size and characters. Material recorded as ‘ Titanohierax cf. T. gloveralleni ’, from Crab Cave, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (Morgan 1994: 479 – 480, fig. 22.5 A = mandible [dorsal]), seems to represent one of the large, extinct species of Buteogallus now known from Cuba, including Borrás’s Hawk (Suárez 2004 a, Suárez & Olson 2008, 2021).

Holotype. — Left tarsometatarsus lacking distal end, DPUH 1250 (Arredondo 1970 a: 4, fig. 1 [anterior], 1971: 96, fig. top left unnumbered: A, centre [anterior], 1976: fig. 3 [anterior]). Collected 11 February 1968 by Noel González Gotera and Oscar Arredondo at the type locality (Arredondo 1970 a: 4), in a place known as ‘ Bolsón de los Huesos del Salón del Depósito’ (see Acevedo González et al. 1975: 16, 18, figs. 4 – 5). Other material. — Phalanges: pedal phalanx, OA 674 (1000 B), at CZACC (Arredondo 1970 a: 15, fig. 5 *: C [lateral], D [dorsal]); ungual phalanx, digit IV, SEC P- 32, at MCZ (Arredondo 1970 a: 4, fig. 5 *: B [lateral]); ungual phalanx, digit IV, OA 675 (1000 A), at CZACC (Arredondo 1970 a: 14, fig. 4 [lateral]). Three specimens, a femur and two ungual phalanges, formerly paratypes of ‘ Aquila ’ borrasi, represent Gigantohierax suarezi (see ‘ History’ and ‘ Notes’). Other material mentioned in the original description at MCZ (Arredondo 1970 a: 2, fig. 3: B [lateral], C [lateral], see Olson & Hilgartner 1982: 28), need re-evaluation. Type locality. — Cueva del Túnel (YTU), c. 3 km south-east of La Salud, municipality of Quivicán, Mayabeque [formerly La Habana] province, Cuba (Arredondo 1970 a: 4, see Acevedo González et al. 1975: 18). Fig. 7.