Nesotrochis is a genus of extinct flightless birds that were endemic to the islands of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean.[1] They have often been called cave rails, though they are no longer considered true rails, but an independent lineage of gruiform birds.
| Nesotrochis Temporal range: Late Pleistocene to Holocene
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| leg and foot bones of Nesotrochis debooyi | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Genus: | †Nesotrochis Wetmore, 1918 |
| Species | |
Taxonomy edit
It contains 3 species known from subfossil remains of Late Pleistocene and Holocene age found in cave deposits. Previously considered rails in the family Rallidae, In 2021, DNA analysis of a complete mitochondrial genome of N. steganinos indicated that they were not rails but an independent lineage of gruiform birds, with their closest relatives being the family Sarothruridae native to Africa, Madagascar, New Guinea and Wallacea, and the extinct adzebills of New Zealand.[2]
Species edit
- Antillean cave rail, Nesotrochis debooyi (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands) - may have survived until historic times
- Cuban cave rail, Nesotrochis picapicensis (Cuba) - prehistoric
- Haitian cave rail, Nesotrochis steganinos (Hispaniola - Haiti) - prehistoric
Description edit
Due to their similar but larger body dimensions when compared to actual rails, the West Indian cave rails are considered examples of insular gigantism, as well as of convergent evolution.[1]
References edit
- ^ a b Livezey, Bradley C. (22 October 1997). "A phylogenetic analysis of the Gruiformes (Aves) based on morphological characters, with an emphasis on the rails (Rallidae)". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 353 (1378): 2077–2151. doi:10.1098/rstb.1998.0353. PMC 1692427.
- ^ Oswald, Jessica A.; Terrill, Ryan S.; Stucky, Brian J.; LeFebvre, Michelle J.; Steadman, David W.; Guralnick, Robert P.; Allen, Julie M. (March 2021). "Ancient DNA from the extinct Haitian cave-rail ( Nesotrochis steganinos ) suggests a biogeographic connection between the Caribbean and Old World". Biology Letters. 17 (3): rsbl.2020.0760, 20200760. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0760. ISSN 1744-957X. PMC 8086980. PMID 33726563.
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