Scientific studies in the Cayman Islands

Davies, J. E.; Brunt, M. A.

doi:10.1007/978-94-011-0904-8_1

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Grand Cayman, the largest of the islands with an area of about 200 km 2 , is 300 km from both Cuba and Jamaica. Cayman Brac (38 km 2 ) and Little Cayman (28 km 2 ) are only 7 km apart and lie about 130 km northwest of Grand Cayman (Davies and Brunt 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crustacea of the Cayman Islands, British West Indies. I. Records of Mysids from Shallow Water Non-Reef Habitats

Price¹,

Heard²,

Harris³

et al. 2002

GCR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crustacea of the Cayman Islands, British West Indies. I. Records of Mysids from Shallow Water Non-Reef Habitats

Price¹,

Heard²,

Harris³

et al. 2002

GCR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The Cayman Islands are part of the southern portion of the North American Plate known as the Cayman Ridge and consist of three islands: Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac [15]. The islands were formed approximately 10 million years ago via block faulting and uplifting [16], and there is a unique oceanographic and marine geological feature in direct proximity to the islands: the Cayman Trench. This trench is over 7000 m in depth and is located at the edge of the North American plate between it and the Caribbean plate south of the trench [16].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depth Range Extension for the Misty Grouper Hyporthodus mystacinus Documented via Deep-Sea Landers throughout the Greater Caribbean

Aldridge,

Dixon,

de Silva

et al. 2024

Fishes

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Misty Groupers (Hyporthodus mystacinus) are one of the largest and most geographically widespread grouper species and one of the few grouper species known to occur at depths greater than 200 m. However, aspects of their basic biology, behavior, and ecology remain poorly understood, leaving significant gaps in our ability to evaluate their functional role throughout the vertical water column, as well as our understanding of their conservation needs in a changing ocean. Through in-situ video observation obtained using deep-sea landers in both The Bahamas and Cayman Islands over multiple years, we documented Misty Grouper occurrence up to 470 m depth in the mesopelagic zone. These observations provide a new depth range extension for the species and illuminate the potential importance of deep-water habitats for large grouper species in the wider Caribbean.

show abstract

“…Cayman Brac has fewer mangrove swamps and brackish lagoons than the two other islands. This island is dominated by the Bluff, the interior plateau that rises from near sea level on the western end of the island to 43 m at its easternmost point, forming the highest elevation in the Cayman Islands (Brunt and Davies, 1994). Only a few hundred meters inland, steep cliffs paralleling the northern and southern coasts frame the plateau's margins, in which caves are abundant.…”

Section: Geographic and Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different potential anthropogenic threats impacted the ecosystems of the Cayman Islands at different times following first European arrival. Shortly after their discovery, the islands were visited frequently by European sailing vessels, as they provided a useful source of water and sea turtle meat (Davies and Brunt, 1994). Populations of black rats therefore almost certainly became established in the Cayman Islands during the early decades of the 16th century, and sailors may also have targeted the large hutias for meat during this period.…”

Section: Radiocarbon Dating and Extinction Chronologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1,2). Despite the existence of a major marine barrier separating these islands from other Caribbean landmasses, the extant vertebrate fauna of the Cayman Islands displays an overall close relationship to that of Cuba, with many conspecific taxa indicating recent gene flow (Brunt and Davies, 1994). As will be described in detail in this paper, Cayman representatives of three extinct nonvolant mammal genera-Capromys, Geocapromys, and Nesophontes-also have close counterparts in the late Quaternary vertebrate fauna of Cuba, providing further evidence of close biogeographic and evolutionary relationships between these islands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Late Quaternary Fossil Mammals from the Cayman Islands, West Indies

Morgan

MacPhee

Woods

et al. 2019

Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abundant fossils of nesophontid lipotyphlan insectivores and capromyid rodents have been collected from late Quaternary deposits on the Cayman Islands, an island group separated by a major marine barrier from other Caribbean landmasses and isolated from anthropogenic impacts until the arrival of Columbus in 1503 CE. These collections have not previously been formally described. Using morphological and ancient DNA approaches, we document three new taxa of extinct endemic terrestrial mammals from this island group: Nesophontes hemicingulus (Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac), Capromys pilorides lewisi (Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac), and Geocapromys caymanensis (Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac). Morphometric comparisons with other extinct and living West Indian mammals indicate that the biogeographic origins of all three new taxa are from source populations on Cuba. Ancient DNA data indicate very low sequence divergence of Capromys pilorides lewisi from mainland Cuban C. pilorides (only 0.5% across the entire mitogenome). Using probabilistic analysis of existing and new radiometric dates, we calculate an estimated extinction date of 1700 CE (95% confidence interval = 1632-1774 CE) for the Cayman Brac Capromys population. This result suggests that at least one endemic Cayman terrestrial mammal population survived for well over a century following first European arrival in the Cayman Islands. The West Indies lost nearly all its species-rich late Quaternary land mammal fauna during the late Holocene due to direct or indirect human impacts, and this study provides a new baseline to understand the magnitude of human-caused mammal extinctions during the recent past. FIG. 1. Cayman Islands, showing geographical position and paleontological localities on Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman.

show abstract

Scientific studies in the Cayman Islands

Cited by 5 publications

References 3 publications

Crustacea of the Cayman Islands, British West Indies. I. Records of Mysids from Shallow Water Non-Reef Habitats

Crustacea of the Cayman Islands, British West Indies. I. Records of Mysids from Shallow Water Non-Reef Habitats

Depth Range Extension for the Misty Grouper Hyporthodus mystacinus Documented via Deep-Sea Landers throughout the Greater Caribbean

Late Quaternary Fossil Mammals from the Cayman Islands, West Indies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About