Antigone cubensis

Antigone cubensis, sometimes called the Cuban flightless crane, is a large, extinct species of crane which was endemic to the island of Cuba in the Caribbean. The species was originally placed in the genus Grus, as Grus cubensis, however subsequent study of the genus resulted in moving the species to Antigone in 2020.[1] Subfossil remains were found in Pleistocene deposits in Pinar del Rio. Probably derived from an early invasion of sandhill cranes from North America, it differed from that species by, as well as larger size, having a proportionately broader bill, stockier legs, and with reduced wings and pectoral girdle indicating that it may have been flightless.[2] Currently, the only extant Caribbean crane is the Cuban sandhill crane, Antigone canadensis nesiotes, an endangered subspecies of sandhill crane endemic to the country.

Antigone cubensis
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene
Tibiotarsus of Antigone cubensis (top)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Gruidae
Genus: Antigone
Species:
†A. cubensis
Binomial name
†Antigone cubensis
(Fischer & Stephan, 1971)
Synonyms
  • Grus cubensis
    Fischer & Stephan, 1971

References
  1. William Suárez (2020). "The fossil avifauna of the tar seeps Las Breas de San Felipe, Matanzas, Cuba". Zootaxa. 4780 (1): 1–53. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4780.1.1. PMID 33055754. S2CID 219510089.
  2. Olson, Storrs L. (1978). "A paleontological perspective of West Indian birds and mammals" (PDF). In Gill, Frank (ed.). Zoogeography in the Caribbean: The 1975 Leidy Medal Symposium. Special Publication 13. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. pp. 99–117 [106]. ISBN 1422317854.


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