A late tertiary woodcock from Menorca, Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean

Scolopax carmesinae n. sp. is described from late Tertiary coastal outcrops of Punta Nati (NW Menorca, Balearic Islands). The species is known from one proximal fragment and one complete humerus. Estimated size is 10-20% smaller than living Eurasian Woodcock S. rusticola. Although osteological features in the humerus are not as specialized as in modern woodcocks, resembling in some aspects Gallinagininae, the general Scolopacinae conformation is fully recognizable. Differentiation of these two subfamilies must have taken place before the end of the Tertiary. Scolopax carmesinae n. sp. might have been the ancestor of S. rusticola. Except for the recent Nearctic form S. minor and the fossil S. hutchensi, remaining living and fossil species of Scalopax, which are all insular endemic forms, probably originated from sedentary, insular populations of S. rusticola.