A New Genus for The Cuban Teratorn (Aves: Teratornithidae)

Suárez, William; Olson, Storrs L.

doi:10.2988/08-27.1

“…The abundance of reptiles and mammals derived from the endemic regional 'megafauna' in the West Indies provided a series of prey (see Steadman et al 2019), potentially partitioned by raptors based on their respective sizes (for a comparable pattern in large Tytonidae from the West Indies, see Suárez & Olson 2015). The evolution in the Antillean subregion of probably pre-Quaternary, highly specialised raptorial lineages (see Suárez & Olson 2009a), which became extinct in the Holocene apparently linked to the extinction of the 'megafauna', corresponds with other non-raptorial, ancient bird lineages also identified on these islands (cf. Olson 1978, 1985, Olson & Wiley 2016.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new fossil raptor (Accipitridae: Buteogallus) from Quaternary cave deposits in Cuba and Hispaniola, West Indies

Suárez

¹

,

Olson

²

2021

Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club

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“…The abundance of reptiles and mammals derived from the endemic regional 'megafauna' in the West Indies provided a series of prey (see Steadman et al 2019), potentially partitioned by raptors based on their respective sizes (for a comparable pattern in large Tytonidae from the West Indies, see Suárez & Olson 2015). The evolution in the Antillean subregion of probably pre-Quaternary, highly specialised raptorial lineages (see Suárez & Olson 2009a), which became extinct in the Holocene apparently linked to the extinction of the 'megafauna', corresponds with other non-raptorial, ancient bird lineages also identified on these islands (cf. Olson 1978, Olson & Wiley 2016.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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2021

Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club

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Bill Bourne died peacefully at Keith, in Scotland, on 31 May 2021, aged 91. Bill wrote so much: papers in this Bulletin are noted below, and are illustrative of the breadth and depth of his ornithological interests and knowledge. Much has been written about him over his working life as a medic, in travel, in research and writing. Bill featured as the 12th in the series 'Personalities' in the April 1978 issue of British Birds. The authors' perception of Bill, a legend of energy, knowledge and eccentricity were shown to stand the test of time. He joined the BOC in 1956. When I first met him in 1969 at the Autumn Scientific meeting of the British Ornithologists' Union he encouraged me to do so too, and he proved to be a great friend as I forged my early contacts in the world of exploration, museums, research and societies.Bill's energy and resourcefulness are well illustrated in his 1951 solo expedition to the Cape Verdes, as a result of which he contributed to the Bannermans' History of the birds of the Cape Verde Islands. His early enthusiasm for birds and their nests was imparted by three maiden aunts. At age seven his father introduced him to egg collecting, which he pursued for ten years, then saw the error, destroyed his collection, and joined the British Trust for Ornithology. He spent most of the war in Bermuda enjoying tropicbirds and terns, and learning about boats and seabirds. From this time his particular interest was the Tubinares. David Bannerman recounts how at the hottest time of year, with little money and no transport of any kind, Bill relied entirely on his wits in his solo Cape Verde endeavour. It says much for his stamina and enthusiasm that he walked across all of São Tiago, over the roughest country, while his journeys between the islands were perforce made in local schooners. With an interest more in ecology than in specimen collecting just one was taken, an example of a Purple Heron Ardea purpurea, from a colony he discovered on São Tiago. He was struck by the paleness of their plumage and the specimen he secured was sent to Paris. After some years, a new race was named by the Abbé René de Naurois in Bill's honour, A. p. bournei.Bill read medicine and zoology at Cambridge, and completed his training at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. Service in the RAF took him to Malta, Jordan and the Middle East at the time of the Suez crisis, then Cyprus, where he was co-founder and first recorder of the Cyprus Ornithological Society. His passionate interest in islands and seabirds came to the fore when, in 1961, he proposed to found the Seabird Group, which eventually formed in 1965, a timely formation ahead of the Torrey Canyon disaster in March 1967. He became its first secretary, whilst in the role of adviser to the Royal Naval Bird Watching Society (RNBWS) he codified the collection of avian data from ships at sea (Sea Swallow 13: 9-16), including ocean weather ships in the eastern Atlantic at a time when reports were pouring in. During this period, when I first met Bill, he worked at Watford Gen...

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“…obs. ), apparently as a result of colonisation during the Holocene (see Santana et al 1986), following the decline and extinction of the endemic, highly specialised carrion-eating taxa (see Suárez 2000a, Suárez & Olson 2001b, 2009, 2014, Suárez & Emslie 2003. In fact, the presence of C. aura (see Wotzkow & Wiley 1988) and Coragyps atratus in Cuba today (Kirkconnell et al 2020) represent species that replaced endemic West Indian specialists in their respective genera (Suárez 2020), with the latter taxon being very rare (González Rossell et al 2013, Kirkconnell et al 2020 and not yet well established.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%