A Pleistocene Avifauna from Haile, Florida

Abstract

A newly discovered fossil fauna near Haile, Alachua County, Florida, represents the Rancholabrean stage of the Pleistocene. The great concentration of small vertebrate remains, especially birds and mammals, is probably due to predatory birds. The avifauna of 72 species represents 12 orders and 26 families; 12 species are extinct. Five living species, Tympanuchus cupido, Actitis macularia, Coccyzus americanus, Cistothorus platensis, and Vireo griseus are new to the fossil record, and four others, Clangula hyemalis, Numenius americanus, Recurvirostra americana, and Asio flammeus, are new to the Pleistocene of Florida. The avifauna shows northern, western or southwestern, and Neotropical affinities; its composition indicates the close proximity of a lake or pond with accompanying marsh and wet meadow during the time of deposition, and that open prairie and scrub were also close at hand.