Antillean Cave Rail
Encyclopedia
The Antillean Cave Rail (Nesotrochis debooyi), also known as DeBooy's Rail, is an extinct rail
species which occurred on Puerto Rico
and the United States Virgin Islands
. Bone fragments of this species were first unearthed by archaeologist Theodoor de Booy
in kitchen midden
deposits on the Richmond estate near Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands
in July 1916 and described by Alexander Wetmore
in 1918. The Antillean Cave Rail might have became extinct before the arrival of the Europeans but stories heard by Alexander Wetmore on Puerto Rico in 1912 about an easy to catch bird named carrao might refer to this species. The Antillean Cave Rail was apparently flightless and was hunted as food by the aborigines
Rallidae
The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and the family also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules...
species which occurred on Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and the United States Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
. Bone fragments of this species were first unearthed by archaeologist Theodoor de Booy
Theodoor de Booy
Theodoor Hendrik Nikolaas de Booy was a Dutch-born American archaeologist.De Booy was born as son of a Vice Admiral in Hellevoetsluis, Netherlands. At the age of 23, he migrated to the United States where he married Elizabeth Hamilton Smith in 1909. In 1916 he became an American citizen. In 1911...
in kitchen midden
Midden
A midden, is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, vermin, shells, sherds, lithics , and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation...
deposits on the Richmond estate near Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands
Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands
Christiansted is a town on Saint Croix, one of the main islands composing the United States Virgin Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States. It is a former capital of the Danish West Indies and home to the Christiansted National Historic Site...
in July 1916 and described by Alexander Wetmore
Alexander Wetmore
Frank Alexander Wetmore was an American ornithologist and avian paleontologist.-Life:Wetmore studied at the University of Kansas...
in 1918. The Antillean Cave Rail might have became extinct before the arrival of the Europeans but stories heard by Alexander Wetmore on Puerto Rico in 1912 about an easy to catch bird named carrao might refer to this species. The Antillean Cave Rail was apparently flightless and was hunted as food by the aborigines