Accipiter efficax Balouet & Olson 1989

Accipiter efficax

HOLOTYPE.—Left tarsometatarsus lacking proximal end and inner trochlea, NCP 1100, Institut de Paléontologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (Figure 2A).

TYPE LOCALITY.—From apparently Holocene deposits in Pindai Cave, Nepoui Peninsula, west coast of New Caledonia; 21°20′S, 164°57′E.

MEASUREMENTS OF HOLOTYPE (mm).—Length as preserved, 63.4; estimated length, 78; greatest depth of shaft, 7.5; width and depth at proximal end of scar for hallux, 6.7 × 4.8; width through middle and outer trochleae, 10.7; depth of middle trochlea, 6.0.

PARATYPES.—Pindai Cave: complete right (NCP 1101) and scapular end of right (NCP 1102) coracoids, 2 incomplete left scapulae (NCP 1103, 1104), proximal end of left humerus (NCP 1105), 3 right (NCP 1106–1108) and 1 left (NCP 1109) ulnae, 2 right (NCP 1110, 1111) and 1 left (NCP 1112) carpometacarpi, proximal end of left tibiotarsus (NCP 1113), distal end of right tarsometatarsus (NCP 1114), 4 ungual phalanges (NCP 1115–1118).

MEASUREMENTS OF PARATYPES.—See Table 1.

COMPARATIVE MATERIAL.—Accipiter f. fasciatus (Vigors and Horsfield), 6 from Victoria and New South Wales, Australia: NMV W6657, male; NMV W9987, male; GEW 2682, male; NMV W3610, female; NMV B13091, unsexed; NMV B13444, unsexed. Accipiter gentilis atricapillus (Wilson) from eastern United States: 6 males, 4 females, USNM. Accipiter meyerianus (Sharpe), distal end of humerus, ulna, radius, and tarsometatarsus removed from skin, AMNH 532449, male from Seram Laut (Maar).

DIAGNOSIS.—An Accipiter of the A. gentilis group, recognizable by very large size (Table 1) and the proportionately short, very robust tarsometatarsus (Figure 2). Differs from A. gentilis (Linnaeus) in proportions, the elements of the wing and pectoral girdle being smaller but the tarsometatarsus and claws as large and robust as in that species. Also, the distal foramen of the tarsometatarsus is markedly smaller and the wing of the inner trochlea does not extend as far posteriorly. Compared with A. meyerianus, the ulna is more robust, with a heavier olecranon; the tarsometatarsus is also more robust, especially in lateral view, the distal end is more expanded, the distal foramen smaller, and the posterior face of the shaft more excavated and channel-like.

ETYMOLOGY.—Latin, efficax (powerful), from the large size and powerful nature of this group of hawks.

STATUS.—Extinct, endemic; known from fossils only.