Ara (genus) - Hypothetical Extinct Ara

Hypothetical Extinct Ara

Macaws are known to have been transported between the Caribbean islands and from mainland South America both in historic times, by Europeans, and prehistoric times, by Paleoamericans. Parrots were important in the culture of native Caribbeans, were traded between islands, and were among the gifts offered to Christopher Columbus when he reached the Bahamas in 1492. It is therefore difficult to determine whether or not the numerous historical records of macaws on these islands mention distinct, endemic species, since they could had been escaped individuals or feral populations of foreign macaws of known species, that had been transported there. As many as thirteen extinct macaws have at times been suggested to have lived on the islands until recently. Only two endemic Caribbean macaw species are known from physical remains; the Cuban Macaw (Ara tricolor), is known from about nine museum skins and subfossils, and the Saint Croix Macaw (Ara autochthones), is only known from subfossils. In addition, several hypothetical extinct species were only based on contemporary accounts, and are considered dubious today. Many of these were named by Walter Rothschild in the early 20th century, who had a tendency to name species based on little tangible evidence. Among others, the Lesser Antillean Macaw (Ara guadeloupensis) was based on reports of macaws on Guadeloupe, the Red-headed Macaw (Ara erythrocephala) and Jamaican Red Macaw (Ara gossei) were named for accounts from Jamaica, the Martinique Macaw (Ara martinica) was from Martinique island, and the Dominican Green-and-yellow Macaw (Ara atwoodi) was supposed to come from Dominica island. Other species have been mentioned as well, but never received binomials, or are considered junior synonyms of other species. No endemic Caribbean macaws remain today.