AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

New Information on the Late Pleistocene Birds from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo León, Mexico

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:1994
Authors:STEADMAN, DAVIDW, Arroyo-Cabrales, J, Johnson, E, A. Guzman, F
Journal:The Condor
Volume:96
Issue:3
Date Published:1994
ISBN Number:00105422
Keywords:Ciconia, Corvidae, Cuculidae, Garrulus, Garrulus glandarius, Geococcyx, Geococcyx californianus, Gymnorhinus, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus, Mexico, Mycteria, Philohela, Philohela minor, Scolopacidae, Scolopax, Scolopax minor, Scolopax rusticola, United States
Abstract:We report 90 bird bones representing 18 species from recent excavations at San Josecito Cave, Nuevo León, Mexico. The new material increases the avifauna of this rich late Pleistocene locality from 52 to 62 species. Eight of the 10 newly recorded taxa are extant; each is either of temperate rather than tropical affinities (such as the American Woodcock Scolopax minor and Pinyon Jay Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) or is very wide-spread in its modern distribution. The two extinct taxa are a stork (Ciconia sp. or Mycteria sp.) and Geococcyx californianus conklingi, a large temporal subspecies of the Greater Road-runner. In this region of the Sierra Madre Oriental (about lat. 24°N, long. 100°W, elev. 2,000-2,600 m), the late Pleistocene avifauna was a mixture of species that today prefer coniferous or pine-oak forests/woodlands, grasslands/savannas, and wetlands. As with various late Pleistocene plant and mammal communities of the United States and México, no clear modern analog exists for the late Pleistocene avifauna of San Josecito Cave.
URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/1369460
Short Title:The Condor
Taxonomic name: 
Ciconia (Birds), Corvidae (Birds), Cuculidae (Birds), Garrulus (Birds), Garrulus glandarius (Birds), Mycteria (Birds), Scolopacidae (Birds), Scolopax (Birds), Scolopax rusticola (Birds), Scolopax Rusticola (Birds)
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith