Vertebrate community on an ice-age Caribbean island.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
; 112(44): E5963-71, 2015 Nov 03.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26483484
ABSTRACT
We report 95 vertebrate taxa (13 fishes, 11 reptiles, 63 birds, 8 mammals) from late Pleistocene bone deposits in Sawmill Sink, Abaco, The Bahamas. The >5,000 fossils were recovered by scuba divers on ledges at depths of 27-35 m below sea level. Of the 95 species, 39 (41%) no longer occur on Abaco (4 reptiles, 31 birds, 4 mammals). We estimate that 17 of the 39 losses (all of them birds) are linked to changes during the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition (PHT) (â¼ 15-9 ka) in climate (becoming more warm and moist), habitat (expansion of broadleaf forest at the expense of pine woodland), sea level (rising from -80 m to nearly modern levels), and island area (receding from â¼ 17,000 km(2) to 1,214 km(2)). The remaining 22 losses likely are related to the presence of humans on Abaco for the past 1,000 y. Thus, the late Holocene arrival of people probably depleted more populations than the dramatic physical and biological changes associated with the PHT.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Vertebrados
/
Biodiversidade
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
Caribe
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article