Late Holocene Fauna from a Cave Deposit in Western Cuba: post-Columbian occurrence of the Vampire Bat<i>Desmodus rotundus</i>(Phyllostomidae: Desmodontinae)

Orihuela, Johanset

doi:10.18475/cjos.v46i2.a17

Cited by 13 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…NTAXA diversity increases to 77 if other species records from the surface collections and other excavated deposits within the cave are added. These include the bats Desmodus rotundus , Chilonatalus macer and Lasiurus insularis (Orihuela, 2010).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Taxonomic remarks: The humeri measured between 36.0 and 37.7 mm, and the mandibles had a total length greater than 18.4 mm and less than 22.0 mm. These specimens were identified from Artibeus jamaicensis , and the Cuban subspecies parvipes , based on size and criteria published by Anthony (1919), Woloszyn and Silva (1977), Silva (1979), Balseiro et al (2009) and Orihuela (2010). Artibeus anthonyi has been reported from another deposit in Cueva de los Nesofontes (Orihuela, 2010).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Palenque is a karstic formation composed of massive (i.e., non-stratified) biodetrictic limestones of the Jaruco Fm (Formation). Previously, this hill was erroneously attributed to the Eocene (Nuñez et al, 1984; see lapsus in Orihuela, 2010). However, its microfauna, generally comprised of sponges, corals, mollusks, index benthic foraminifera, and echinoderms, suggest that the Jaruco Fm formed in an oxygenated, warm, tropical, neritic sublittoral-platform environment during the late Oligocene and the early Miocene, ∼28 to 20 Ma (millions of years ago) (Iturralde-Vinent, 1969a/b, 1977, 1988; Cuban Geologic Lexicon, 2014, p. 188).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…From each sieved sample, a subsample collection was randomly placed in plastic bottles (∼ 462 cm³). This was later softly dry brushed in the lab to remove adhered matrix and soil and material separated following Silva (1974), but including juveniles and other parts of the appendicular skeleton in the tallies following the method described in Orihuela (2010). This constituted the sample collection from which species diversity was calculated.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Until recently, Cuban cave fossil deposits had been rather arbitrarily considered to be of late Pleistocene age (e.g., Brown, 1913; Anthony, 1919; Allen, 1918; Koopman and Williams, 1951; Acevedo et al, 1975; Arredondo, 1970; Woloszyn and Silva, 1977; Acevedo and Arredondo, 1982; Rivero and Arredondo, 1991; Salgado et al, 1992; Balseiro, 2011). However, the few existing radiocarbon dates from non-cultural vertebrate assemblages reported from Cuba now indicate that such faunal accumulations are often much younger in age than previously expected (MacPhee et al, 1999, 2007; Jull et al, 2004; Jiménez et al, 2005; Steadman et al, 2005; Orihuela, 2010; Orihuela and Tejedor, 2012; Orihuela, 2019). So far, only three cave deposits have yielded true Pleistocene faunas: Cueva El Abrón, in Pinar del Río province (Suárez and Díaz-Franco, 2003), the tar deposits of San Felipe (Jull et al, 2004) and the thermal bath deposits of Ciego Montero (Kulp, 1952).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Late Holocene land vertebrate fauna from Cueva de los Nesofontes, Western Cuba: stratigraphy, last appearance dates, diversity and paleoecology

Orihuela

Orozco

Licourt³

et al. 2020

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Here we report a Late Holocene fossil-rich cave deposit from Cueva de los Nesofontes, Mayabeque Province, Cuba. The deposit’s formation and its fauna were studied through a multidisciplinary approach that included stable isotope analyses, radiocarbon chronology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, and taphonomy. Thousands of microvertebrate skeletal remains were recovered, representing a diverse land vertebrate fauna that included threatened and extinct species. The deposit is characterized by profuse Nesophontes remains due to raptor predation. Previously unreported last appearance dates are provided for the extinct island-shrew Nesophontes major, the bats Artibeus anthonyi and Phyllops vetus. Radiocarbon (14C AMS) age estimates between ∼1960 rcyr BP and the present were recovered. The presence of locally extinct species, including the endemic parakeet Psittacara eups, the flicker Colaptes cf. auratus/fernandinae, and the lipotyphlan Solenodon cubanus suggests that these species had broader distributions in the near past. Isotope analyses and faunal composition indicate the previous presence of diverse habitats, including palm grove savannas and mixed woodlands. Isotopes also provide insight into the habitat and coexistence of the extinct bat Artibeus anthonyi and extant A. jamaicensis, the diet of Nesophontes major, and local paleoenvironmental conditions. Oxygen isotopes reveal an excursion suggestive of drier/colder local conditions between 660 and 770 AD. Our research further expands the understanding of Cuban Quaternary extinction episodes and provides data on the distribution and paleoecology of extinct taxa. It supports the conclusion that many Cuban extinct species survived well into the pre-Columbian late Holocene and retained wide distribution ranges until human colonization.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%