TY - JOUR
T1 - New radiocarbon dates reveal pan-Holocene deposition of rodents at Trouing Jérémie #5, a sinkhole in the western Tiburon Peninsula, Haiti
AU - Cooke, Siobhán Bríghid
AU - Erin Crowley, Brooke
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - We present eight new radiocarbon dates for endemic and invasive rodents from Trouing Jérémie #5, a paleontologically-rich sink hole on the Tiburon Peninsula, Haiti. This includes new dates for two species that have been previously directly dated (Isolobodon portoricensis and Brotomys voratus) as well as three endemic rodents which have no previous direct radiometric dates (Plagiodontia velozi, Hexolobodon phenax, and Rhizoplagiodontia lemkei). The radiocarbon date for P. velozi, the largest of these species, is from the very early Holocene (10,995 ± 190 calendar years before present; Cal BP). Specimens of medium-bodied species, H. phenax and R. lemkei date to the mid-Holocene, while specimens of smaller-bodied I. portoricencis and B. voratus have dates falling in the Late-Holocene. These dates confirm that several of the extinct rodent species coexisted with the first humans, who arrived on the island ca. 6000 years ago. In contrast, murid Rattus specimens date to the last few centuries. Rats arrived with Europeans in the late 15th or early 16th Century and a radiocarbon date of ca. 500 Cal BP for one individual suggests that they likely spread quickly across the island. Collectively, these dates establish that vertebrate accumulations at Trouing Jérémie #5 span the Holocene. Remains from this site may provide a useful time sequence for future work examining ecological change across the Holocene as well as regional extirpation patterns.
AB - We present eight new radiocarbon dates for endemic and invasive rodents from Trouing Jérémie #5, a paleontologically-rich sink hole on the Tiburon Peninsula, Haiti. This includes new dates for two species that have been previously directly dated (Isolobodon portoricensis and Brotomys voratus) as well as three endemic rodents which have no previous direct radiometric dates (Plagiodontia velozi, Hexolobodon phenax, and Rhizoplagiodontia lemkei). The radiocarbon date for P. velozi, the largest of these species, is from the very early Holocene (10,995 ± 190 calendar years before present; Cal BP). Specimens of medium-bodied species, H. phenax and R. lemkei date to the mid-Holocene, while specimens of smaller-bodied I. portoricencis and B. voratus have dates falling in the Late-Holocene. These dates confirm that several of the extinct rodent species coexisted with the first humans, who arrived on the island ca. 6000 years ago. In contrast, murid Rattus specimens date to the last few centuries. Rats arrived with Europeans in the late 15th or early 16th Century and a radiocarbon date of ca. 500 Cal BP for one individual suggests that they likely spread quickly across the island. Collectively, these dates establish that vertebrate accumulations at Trouing Jérémie #5 span the Holocene. Remains from this site may provide a useful time sequence for future work examining ecological change across the Holocene as well as regional extirpation patterns.
KW - Capromyidae
KW - Caribbean
KW - European contact
KW - Rattus
KW - bone collagen
KW - extinction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131594097&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85131594097&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/09596836221101279
DO - 10.1177/09596836221101279
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85131594097
SN - 0959-6836
VL - 32
SP - 991
EP - 997
JO - Holocene
JF - Holocene
IS - 9
ER -