Further characterization of Carneara creightoni Brodkorb based on fossils from the Quaternary of Cuba (Aves: Falconidae)

•Caracara creightoni, previously known from three fragmentary fossils from New Providence Island, Bahamas, is here documented from two Quaternary sites in Cuba. It appears to have been a smaller species than C. cheriway, but with a more robust bill and quadrate and other cranial differences, relatively shorter wings, and more robust hindlimb elements. The living species C. cheriway appears to be a relatively recent arrival in Cuba so that it is likely that fossils of Caracara from the West Indies may all belong to extinct endemic species. In his report on Quaternary birds from a sinkhole on New Providence Island, Bahamas, Brodkorb (1959) erected a new species, Caracara creightoni, based only on a single fragment of carpometacarpus consisting mainly of the major metacarpal. Although Olson (1976) regarded this with skepticism, he was forced to concede that it came from a caracara and that it had a few apparently distinctive features. Nevertheless, he adopted a very conservative approach and considered all of the thennamed fossil forms of Polyborus (now Caracara again•see Banks & Dove 1992) to be referable to Caracara plancus sensu lato. This conclusion was reversed following the discovery at the type locality of an incomplete quadrate and the distal end of a tibiotarsus that were distinct from C. plancus, so that C. creightoni was reinstated as a good species despite the paucity of material (Olson & Hilgartner 1982). An incomplete skull and two portions of femora from Quaternary sites in Cuba were referred to Caracara creightoni by Suárez & Arredondo (1997), although these were not described or illustrated. The identification of the femoral portions we now regard as uncertain because of the difficulty of identifying incomplete specimens, but we here describe the skull along with additional more recently collected postcranial material from Cuba in an attempt to further characterize the species C. creightoni. Unfortunately, although vertebrate fossils have been found in many localities in Cuba, very few have been accurately dated and all of those discussed herein can only be assumed to be Quaternary in age (Suárez 2000). Comparative material examined.•Complete skeletons unless otherwise noted: Caracara cheriway USNM 11679 (partial postcranial), 19664 (skull), 19670-71, 19682 (skull), 321805, 322338, 343845-46, 346402, 428041, 431612, 553229-30. Caracara plancus 18478, 227375 (skull), 345779-80, 488293 (skull), 490931, 614583-84. Caracara lutosus 19916.