Puerto Rican Quail-Dove

Bones of Puerto Rico - Dove

The Puerto Rico - Dove ( Geotrygon larva ), also known as Puerto Rico Ground Dove, is an extinct pigeon of the genus American Earth Dove ( Geotrygon ). It is known only from subfossilem material from the Holocene.

Remains of Puerto Rico - Dove were promoted in the caves Cueva Clara and Cueva Catedral near Morovis, in the cave Cueva Toraño at Utuado and in a Køkkenmøddinger near Mayaguez Puerto Rico -days. The holotype, a tarsometatarsus, was discovered in the cave Cueva Clara in July 1916 by Harold Elmer Anthony ( 1890-1970 ).

According to Alexander Wetmore the Puerto Rico - Dove was related to the Gundlachtaube ( Geotrygon caniceps ) that is found in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. However, the tarsometatarsus was significantly longer than in the Gundlachtaube. Compared with the Red Earth Dove ( Geotrygon montana), the Puerto Rican pigeon had narrower Tarsometatarsi. The number of bones found there rise to the speculation that the Puerto Rican pigeon must have been widespread before the arrival of the first settlers on the island. It was probably a victim of the wide -scale deforestation.