Human and hutia (Isolobodon portoricensis) interactions in pre-Columbian Hispaniola: The isotopic and morphological evidence

Stable isotopes reveal seasonal dietary responses to agroforestry in a venomous mammal, the Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus)

“…While humans have been altering Hispaniolan landscapes since the mid‐Holocene (Cooke et al, 2017 ), the majority of stable isotope research for the region has focused on archaeological and paleontological—rather than ecological—questions. Contributions of C4 plants to animal diets, as gleaned through δ 13 C values, are regularly used to infer some type of anthropogenic influence on species such as dogs, rice rats, and hutias, given the otherwise natural rarity of C4 plants in the region and predominance of maize in human diets (e.g., Shev et al, 2021 ). Cooke and Crowley ( 2018 ) examined nine rodent taxa (eight of which went extinct post European arrival) from paleontological contexts on the Tiburon Peninsula in Haiti using stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen on tooth enamel; their results similarly emphasized a natural reliance on C3 plants that would also be regularly available to solenodons.…”

Paleodietary reconstruction of endemic rodents from the precolumbian Dominican Republic: Discriminating wild feeding behavior from diets linked to human niche construction activities

“…AD 1030-1262), and La Entrada (cal. AD 840-900), the site histories of which are discussed in previous publications Pagán-Jiménez et al, 2020;Shev, Laffoon, & Hofman, 2021). Accompanying these are 31 newly analyzed enamel samples from some of the same animals.…”

“…Although no physical traces of enclosures or other material evidence of captive management have been identified archaeologically, biomolecular studies have shed light on complex relations between humans and hutia. Studies have revealed evidence of zoonotic parasite transmission from hutias to humans suggesting a close cohabitation of space, (Wiscovitch‐Russo et al, 2020 ); provided genetic evidence of the introduction of populations of hutias to new island environs (Oswald et al, 2020 ; Woods et al, 2021 ); and highlighted similarities in dietary stable isotope values with humans which may suggest some degree of commensalism, both in the Bahamas with Geocapromys ingrahami and in Hispaniola with I. portoricensis (LeFebvre, DuChemin, et al, 2019 ; Shev, Laffoon, & Hofman, 2021 ). These studies do not necessarily indicate that hutias were held in captivity but do suggest that there was sharing of foodways and possibly indicate close cohabitation between humans and hutias.…”

“…Numerous stable isotope studies have assessed human paleodiets of precolonial and early colonial period indigenous communities in the insular Caribbean (Chinique de Armas et al, 2015 , 2016 ; Keegan & DeNiro, 1988 ; Krigbaum et al, 2013 ; Laffoon et al, 2013 , 2019 , 2020 ; Laffoon & Vos, 2011 ; Pestle, 2010 , 2013 ; Stokes, 2008 ). Isotopic studies of animal paleomobility have been conducted to investigate the introduction or movement of animals into different Caribbean islands (Giovas, 2016 ; Giovas et al, 2016 , 2019 ; Laffoon et al, 2015 , 2019 ; LeFebvre, deFrance, et al, 2019 ), while only a few isotopic studies have looked specifically at animal diets in an attempt to highlight dietary linkages between the human and animals (Laffoon et al, 2019 ; LeFebvre, deFrance, et al, 2019 ; Shev et al, 2020 ; Shev, Laffoon, & Hofman, 2021 ).…”

“…The current research builds on previously published results of stable isotope analysis of bone collagen from archaeological I. portoricensis remains and other endemic taxa from four precolonial sites in the modern-day Dominican Republic (Shev, Laffoon, & Hofman, 2021). Added to these collagen data are newly analyzed enamel isotope values, which enabled us to employ Bayesian dietary mixing modeling (FRUITS v.3.0) on several individuals.…”