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
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Scolopax
Species:
S. anthonyi
Binomial name
Scolopax anthonyi
(Wetmore, 1920)
Synonyms

Gallinago anthonyi (Wetmore, 1920) Scolopax anthonyi (Olson, 1976)

Taxonomy

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Its 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

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Scolopax 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

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  1. ^ "A new species of Woodcock (Aves: Scolopacidae: Scolopax) from Hispaniola, West Indies | Request PDF". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  2. ^ Hume, Julian P. (2017). Extinct Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978-1472937445.