From a thriving past to an uncertain future: Zooarchaeological evidence of two millennia of human impact on a large emblematic lizard (Iguana delicatissima) on the Guadeloupe Islands (French West Indies)

Abstract

HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

7,000 years of turnover: historical contingency and human niche construction shape the Caribbean’s Anthropocene biota

“… D. In 1995, 15 green iguanas ( Iguana iguana, E. LA ) rafted from Guadeloupe to Anguilla during a hurricane [16]; this event was contingent on the past introduction of green iguanas by Indigenous and/or colonial groups [17]. The Critically Endangered Antiguan racer ( Alsophis antiguae) has been translocated to three offshore islets, growing the population from 51 to >1100 individuals [18].…”

“…Until recently, I. iguana was believed to have been deliberately introduced in historical times [36]. However, a reanalysis of zooarchaeological materials from Guadeloupe indicate a pre-Columbian introduction of I. iguana from Central America in at least this part of the Lesser Antilles [17], though it is not clear whether there is a direct ancestor-descendent relationship between these remains and extant populations, or if there have been subsequent colonizations.…”

From Icon of Empire to National Emblem: New Evidence for the Fallow Deer of Barbuda

“…For these reasons, the fallow deer of Barbuda are a legitimate focus for research with the potential to provide high quality information for a range of disciplines including archaeology, history and ecology, since the introduction of a new species can have a considerable impact on native ecosystems (Hobbs 2000;Lambert and Rotherham 2011). While there has been an increasing body of Caribbean zooarchaeological data on animal introductions, biogeography, and humanecodynamics (Giovas, LeFebvre, andFitzpatrick 2012, 2016), most of the narratives address the Amerindian horizon (Giovas, LeFebvre, and Fitzpatrick 2012;Grouard 2001Grouard , 2003Grouard , 2010Grouard , 2011Steadman et al 2014;Wing 2001), pre-anthropic horizons or focus exclusively on herpetofauna (Bochaton et al 2015(Bochaton et al , 2016Pregill, Steadman, and Watters 1994). There is clearly a need for zooarchaeological data that are both qualitatively and quantitatively substantial for the colonial period in order to understand the history and management of fallow deer.…”

A new fossil species ofBoaLinnaeus, 1758 (Squamata, Boidae), from the Pleistocene of Marie-Galante Island (French West Indies)

“…Our data confirm that the history of the Lesser Antillean Boa is complex and that an important radiation of these snakes probably occurred in this area in the past. However, in contrast to several other squamate taxa in Guadeloupe (Bochaton et al, 2016a(Bochaton et al, , 2016b(Bochaton et al, , 2017a(Bochaton et al, , 2017b, and unlike other Lesser Antillean boas, anthropogenic issues may not have been the primary factor impacting Guadeloupe Boa snakes. The modern relictual distribution area of the Boa in the Lesser Antilles thus may not be exclusively related to the human impact on insular ecosystems.…”

“…Details concerning the stratigraphy of the deposits, taphonomy of the assemblages, and stratigraphic positions of the investigated boid remains can be found in the previously published studies of Cadet 2 cave (Bochaton et al, 2015b), Cadet 3 rock shelter (Stouvenot et al, 2014), and Blanchard Cave (Bailon et al, 2015). Marie-Galante boid remains were studied as part of a broad review of the squamate remains contained in the numerous archeological and paleontological deposits situated on all Guadeloupe islands (see a list of studied deposits in Bochaton et al, 2016b). With the exception of the three Marie-Galante sites mentioned above, all Guadeloupe deposits appeared to be free of boid remains, with the exception of a single archaeological artifact, a worked vertebra possibly transported from another island collected in the archeological site of Cath edrale de Basse-Terre (C.B., pers.…”