Porto Santo rail
[Figures 3, 8 H, 11 B, 15 B, 16 B, 17 B] Artistic reconstruction: Figure 23
Holotype: MMF 43444, R tmt.
Type locality: Porto dos Frades, Porto Santo, 1985.
Collectors: All the paratypes were collected by HP and OR, except those that are specifically attributed to a different collector.
Measurements of holotype: total length, 33.4 mm; proximal width, 5.7 mm; diaphysis width, 2.8 mm; distal width, 5.8 mm.
Paratypes: Fonte da Areia: MMF 43445, R tmt, 1981; MMF 43453, R fem, 1984. Porto dos Frades: MMF 43446, L tmt, 22 June 1983, coll. KG; MMF 43447, L tbt, 1994; MMF 43448, R tbt, 12 Aug 1984, coll. KG; MMF 43449, R tbt, 1985; MMF 43450, pmx frag, 1985; MMF 43451, R hum frag, 1985.
Measurements of paratypes (following the order of the specimens listed above): Tarsometatarsus—total length, 33.4, 31.4, 33.4 mm; proximal width, 4.8, 5.1, 5.7 mm; diaphysis width, 2.6, 2.6, 2.8 mm; distal width, 5.5, 5.3, 5.8 mm. Tibiotarsus—total length, 52.0, -, - mm; medial length: 50.2, 50.8, 52.3; proximal width, 6.9, -, - mm; diaphysis width, 2.3, 2.6, 2.6 mm; distal width, 5.0, 5.2, 5.0 mm. Femur—total length, 38.6 mm; proximal width, 7.3 mm; diaphysis width, 3.0 mm. Humerus—total length, - mm (c. 33 mm); diaphysis width, 2.2 mm; distal width, 5.1 mm.
Age: Undetermined Late Quaternary age (from Late Pleistocene to Late Holocene).
Diagnosis. R. adolfocaesaris n. sp. is a species of Rallus that is overall smaller than Rallus aquaticus, and has relatively gracile legs. The humerus is larger than that of R. lowei n. sp., but smaller than that of R. aquaticus. The femur is c. 7 % shorter than in Rallus aquaticus, while the tibiotarsus is 19 % shorter, the tarsometatarsus being proportionately the shortest leg bone (20 %). The femur is slightly larger than in R. montivagorum n. sp. The tibiotarsus and particularly the tarsometatarsus are considerably more slender than in R. lowei n. sp. (Figures 16 B, 17 B). The tarsometatarsus is more gracile than that of R. lowei n. sp. and longer and more gracile than those of R. carvaoensis n. sp. and R. minutus n. sp. (Figure 17 B; Table 1).
TABLE 1. Measurements (1-29) of Rallus lowei n. sp., R. adolfocaesaris n. sp., R. carvaoensis n. sp., R. montivagorum n. sp., Rallus minutus n.sp., Rallus sp. A, Rallus sp. B, Rallus sp. C and R. aquaticus: sample size, mean length ± standard error (mm), and range. Measurements as in McMinn et al (2005) and von den Driesch (1976) [see text].
R. lowei R. adolfocaesaris R. carvaoensis R. montivagorum R.minutus Rallus sp. A Rallus sp. B Rallus sp. C R.aquaticus Madeira Porto Santo São Miguel Pico São Jorge Graciosa Terceira Santa Maria Europe Radius
13 Length - - - - (2) 23.1 ± 0.4 (34) 28.8 ± 1.4 [22.8-23.5] [25.6-31.2] ……continued on the next page TABLE 1. (Continued)
R. lowei R. adolfocaesaris R. carvaoensis R. montivagorum R.minutus Rallus sp. A Rallus sp. B Rallus sp. C R. aquaticus Madeira Porto Santo São Miguel Pico São Jorge Graciosa Terceira Santa Maria Europe
Carpometacarpus
Length - - (1) 14.9 (14) 18.9 ± 1.5 (1) 11.0 (1) 17.3 (2) 17.5 ± 0.2 (33) 21.5 ± 1 [16.7-21.5] [17.3-17.7] [19.4-23.3] Proximal width - - (1) 3.7 (15) 4.8 ± 0.5 (1) 3.4 (1) 4.5 (33) 4.7 ± 0.2 [4.2-5.8] [4.2-5.1] Distal width - - (1) 2.1 (14) 2.8 ± 0.3 (1) 2.4 (2) 2.8 (33) 2.7 ± 0.2 [2.3-3.4] [2.8-2.9] [2.2-3.1]
Femur
Etymology. Dedicated to Adolfo César de Noronha for his contributions to the biology and paleontology of Madeira (Clode 1984, da Silva and de Meneses 1984). He was born 9 Sept 1873 in Funchal /Madeira and died there 6 Apr 1963. After his education in Madeira and on the Portuguese mainland he was librarian at the Biblioteca Municipal do Funchal and after 1928 its director. Later he also became the first director of the Museu de Historia Natural (as it is now termed) which was established in 1929. During his long life he published together with A.A. Sarmento "Vertebrados da Madeira" in 1948, and numerous other papers, mainly on the marine fishes of the Madeiran Archipelago, but also on crustaceans and birds. He also collected plants and fossils, including fossil bird bones in São Lourenço in the early years of last century, and these are still conserved in the MHNF.