Two mid-Pleistocene avifaunas from Coleman, Florida

Abstract

Avifaunas from two sites near Coleman, Florida, are Irvingtonian in age and contain a total of 38 species. The two sites, Coleman IIA and Coleman IIIC and D, are probably related temporally, but they are analyzed separately. Ten species (Anhinga cf. A. grandis, Buteo lagopus, Aquila chrysaetos, Falco columbarius, Bubo virginianus, Protocitta cf. P. afax, Dendroica sp., Pheucticus ludovicianus, Pooecetes gramineus, and Aimophila aestivalis) are new to the Pleistocene of Florida. Pheucticus ludovicianus and Aimophila aestivalis are new to the fossil record. New material of two populations of Colinus suilium, one early to middle Pleistocene in age (from the Inglis IA site in Citrus County, Florida) and the other middle Pleistocene in age (from Coleman IIA), is analyzed, and indicates C. suilium underwent a gradual size increase throughout the Pleistocene. This is the opposite of what was previously thought and suggests that C. suilium was not derived from Colinus hibbardi as has been hypothesized.