''Nesotrochis'' is a genus of extinct flightless birds, formerly native to the islands of the

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, a ...

in the Caribbean. Its species are considered examples of

insular gigantism Island gigantism, or insular gigantism, is a biological phenomenon in which the size of an animal species isolated on an island increases dramatically in comparison to its mainland relatives. Island gigantism is one aspect of the more general Fos ...

. It contains 3 species known from subfossil remains of Late Pleistocene and

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

age found in cave deposits, and consequently they have been collectively referred to as the West Indian cave rails. Previously considered rails in the family

Rallidae The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, althou ...

, In 2021, DNA analysis of a complete mitochondrial genome of ''N. steganinos'' indicated that they were not rails but an independent lineage of

gruiform The Gruiformes are an order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird families, with a widespread geographical diversity. Gruiform means "crane-like". Traditionally, a number of wading and terrestrial bird families that did ...

birds, with their closest relatives being the family

Sarothruridae Sarothruridae is a family of small- to medium-sized ground-living birds found mostly in Madagascar and sub-Saharan Africa, with the genus ''Rallicula'' being restricted to New Guinea and the Moluccas. The species in this family were once consider ...

native to Africa, Madagascar, New Guinea and

Wallacea Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of mainly Indonesian islands separated by deep-water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as ...

, and the extinct

adzebill The adzebills, genus ''Aptornis'', were two closely related bird species, the North Island adzebill, (''Aptornis otidiformis''), and the South Island adzebill, (''Aptornis defossor''), of the extinct family Aptornithidae. The family was endemic ...

s of New Zealand. * Antillean cave rail, ''Nesotrochis debooyi'' (Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands, West Indies) - may have survived until historic times * Haitian cave rail, ''Nesotrochis steganinos'' (Haiti, West Indies) - prehistoric * Cuban cave rail, ''Nesotrochis picapicensis'' (Cuba, West Indies) - prehistoric

References

Bird genera Holocene extinctions Taxa named by Alexander Wetmore {{Gruiformes-stub