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The Cuban macaw or Cuban red macaw (''Ara tricolor'') was a species of macaw native to the main island of Cuba and the nearby Isla de la Juventud that went extinct in the late 19th century. Its relationship with other macaws in the genus ''Ara'' is uncertain, but it may have been closely related to the scarlet macaw, which has some similarities in appearance. It may also have been closely related, or identical, to the hypothetical Jamaican red macaw. No modern skeletons are known, but a few subfossil remains have been found on Cuba. At about long, the Cuban macaw was one of the smallest macaws. It had a red, orange, yellow, and white head, and a red, orange, green, brown, and blue body. Little is known of its behaviour, but it is reported to have nested in hollow trees, lived in pairs or families, and fed on seeds and fruits. The species' original distribution on Cuba is unknown, but it may have been restricted to the central and western parts of the island. It was mainly reported from the vast Zapata Swamp, where it inhabited open terrain with scattered trees. The Cuban macaw was traded and hunted by Amerindians, and by Europeans after their arrival in the 15th century. Many individuals were brought to Europe as cagebirds, and 19 museum skins exist today. It had become rare by the mid-19th century due to pressure from hunting, trade, and habitat destruction. Hurricanes may also have contributed to its demise. The last reliable accounts of the species are from the 1850s on Cuba and 1864 on Isla de la Juventud, but it may have persisted until 1885. ==Taxonomy== Early explorers of Cuba, such as Christopher Columbus and Diego Álvarez Chanca, mentioned Cuban macaws in 14th- and 15th-century writings. Cuban macaws were described and illustrated in several early accounts about the island. In 1811, Johann Matthäus Bechstein scientifically named the species ''Psittacus tricolor''. Bechstein's description was itself based on the bird's entry in François Le Vaillant's 1801 book ''Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets''. Today, 19 skins of the Cuban macaw exist in 15 collections worldwide (two each in Natural History Museum at Tring, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, the Swedish Museum of Natural History, and the Smithsonian Museum), but many are of unclear provenance. Several were provided by Juan Gundlach, who collected some of the last individuals that regularly fed near the Zapata Swamp in 1849–50. Some of the preserved specimens are known to have lived in captivity in zoos (such as Jardin des Plantes de Paris, Berlin Zoo, and Amsterdam Zoo) or as cagebirds. Several more skins are known to have existed, but have been lost.〔 There are no records of its eggs. No modern skeletal remains are known, but three subfossil specimens have been discovered: half a carpometacarpus from a possibly Pleistocene spring deposit in Ciego Montero, identified by extrapolating from the size of Cuban macaw skins and bones of extant macaws (reported in 1928), a rostrum from a Quaternary cave deposit in Caimito (reported in 1984), and a worn skull from Sagua La Grande, which was deposited in a waterfilled sinkhole possibly during the Quaternary and associated with various extinct birds and ground sloths (reported in 2008).〔〔 As many as 13 now-extinct species of macaw have variously been suggested to have lived on the Caribbean islands, but many of these were based on old descriptions or drawings and only represent hypothetical species. Only three endemic Caribbean macaw species are known from physical remains: the Cuban macaw, the Saint Croix macaw (''Ara autochthones''), which is known only from subfossils, and the Lesser Antillean macaw (''Ara guadeloupensis''), which is known from subfossils and reports.〔 Macaws are known to have been transported between the Caribbean islands and from mainland South America to the Caribbean both in historic times by Europeans and natives, and in prehistoric times by Paleoamericans. Historical records of macaws on these islands, therefore, may not have represented distinct, endemic species; it is also possible that they were escaped or feral foreign macaws that had been transported to the islands. All the endemic Caribbean macaws were likely driven to extinction by humans in historic and prehistoric times. The identity of these macaws is only likely to be further resolved through fossil finds and examination of contemporary reports and artwork.〔 The Jamaican red macaw (''Ara gossei'') was named by Walter Rothschild in 1905 on the basis of a description of a specimen shot in 1765. It was described as being similar to the Cuban macaw, mainly differing in having a yellow forehead. Some researchers believe the specimen described may have been a feral Cuban macaw.〔 A stylised 1765 painting of a macaw by Lt. L. J. Robins, published in a volume called ''The Natural History of Jamaica'', matches the Cuban macaw, and may show a specimen that had been imported there; however, it has also been claimed that the painting shows the Jamaican red macaw.〔 In 1985, David Wetherbee suggested that extant specimens of the Cuban macaw had come from both Cuba and Hispaniola, based on his interpretation of an 1888 report. He believed the name ''Ara tricolor'' applied to the supposed Hispaniolan species, and therefore coined the new name ''Ara cubensis'' for the Cuban species. This hypothesis has not been accepted by other researchers, and there is no clear evidence for a species of macaw on Hispaniola.〔 Rothschild's 1907 book ''Extinct Birds'' included a depiction of a specimen in the Liverpool Museum which was presented as a Cuban macaw. In a 1908 review of the book published in ''The Auk'', the reviewer claimed that the picture looked sufficiently dissimilar from known Cuban macaws that the specimen may actually be of one of the largely unknown species of macaw, such as a species from Haiti. The reviewer's objection has not been accepted.〔 Since detailed descriptions of extinct macaws exist only for the species on Cuba, it is impossible to determine the species' relationships.〔 It has been suggested that the closest mainland relative of the Cuban macaw is the scarlet macaw (''Ara macao''), due to the similar distribution of red and blue in their plumage, and the presence of a white patch around the eyes, naked except for lines of small red feathers. Furthermore, the range of the scarlet macaw extends to the margins of the Caribbean Sea. The Cuban macaw is distinct due to its lack of a yellow shoulder patch, its all-black beak, and its smaller size.〔 The two also share a species of feather mite, which supports their relationship.〔 James Greenway believed the scarlet macaw and the Cuban macaw formed a superspecies with the other extinct species suggested to have inhabited Jamaica, Hispaniola and Guadeloupe.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cuban macaw」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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