Where did people forage in prehistoric Trinidad? Testing the utility of a multi-isotope approach for tracking the origins of terrestrial prey

Sparks, Janine M.; Crowley, Brooke E.

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.08.002

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Approximately 150 mg of bone was sampled from a hippopotamus phalanx collected from the deepest level (Level 2) and prepared at the Quaternary Paleoecology Laboratory (University of Cincinnati). After coarse crushing, the bone underwent decalcification and gelatinization following Sparks and Crowley (). The sample was decalcified in 0.5 m HCl at 4 °C and rinsed in ultrapure water.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new late Pleistocene subfossil site (Tsaramody, Sambaina basin, central Madagascar) with implications for the chronology of habitat and megafaunal community change on Madagascar's Central Highlands

Samonds

Crowley

Rasolofomanana

et al. 2019

J Quaternary Science

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Madagascar is a complex ‘biodiversity hotspot’ with a rapidly dwindling biota. The Late Quaternary subfossil record includes many extinct species whose loss is attributed to natural climate change and human impacts. Investigation of the chronology of these events is challenging because few localities document pre‐Holocene communities not impacted by humans. Caves with extinct lemurs of large body size comprise some of Madagascar's richest subfossil sites, but provide only a limited window into the island's past. Open highland sites may have fewer primates, but may better document other megafauna, and allow the analysis of the role of the Central Highlands as refugia and as corridors for the dispersal of vertebrates before and after human arrival. Here we present a new subfossil site, Tsaramody (Sambaina basin, Central Madagascar), a high‐altitude wetland area that preserves a diverse late glacial and postglacial vertebrate community. Tsaramody bears testimony to fluctuations in the highland flora during the transition from glacial to postglacial conditions, and the composition of a highland vertebrate community before humans arrived. We compare its biota to those of other sites to begin to document the decline and disappearance of megafauna from some of Madagascar's open ecosystems – wetlands dominated by hippopotamuses and crocodylians. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new late Pleistocene subfossil site (Tsaramody, Sambaina basin, central Madagascar) with implications for the chronology of habitat and megafaunal community change on Madagascar's Central Highlands

Samonds

Crowley

Rasolofomanana

et al. 2019

J Quaternary Science

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“…There can also be pronounced differences among microhabitats in the same region (Crowley et al, 2012(Crowley et al, , 2014Heck et al, 2016). Plants and animals living on saline coastal soils that are influenced by marine-derived nitrates may also have higher δ 15 N values than those that live inland (Heaton, 1987;Sparks and Crowley, 2018;Mosher et al, 2020;Hixon et al, submitted). Thus, only in comparable environments can consumer δ 15 N values be interpreted primarily in terms of diet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Consequences of a Millennium of Introduced Dogs on Madagascar

et al. 2021

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Introduced predators currently threaten endemic animals on Madagascar through predation, facilitation of human-led hunts, competition, and disease transmission, but the antiquity and past consequences of these introductions are poorly known. We use directly radiocarbon dated bones of introduced dogs (Canis familiaris) to test whether dogs could have aided human-led hunts of the island’s extinct megafauna. We compare carbon and nitrogen isotope data from the bone collagen of dogs and endemic “fosa” (Cryptoprocta spp.) in central and southwestern Madagascar to test for competition between introduced and endemic predators. The distinct isotopic niches of dogs and fosa suggest that any past antagonistic relationship between these predators did not follow from predation or competition for shared prey. Radiocarbon dates confirm that dogs have been present on Madagascar for over a millennium and suggest that they at least briefly co-occurred with the island’s extinct megafauna, which included giant lemurs, elephant birds, and pygmy hippopotamuses. Today, dogs share a mutualism with pastoralists who also occasionally hunt endemic vertebrates, and similar behavior is reflected in deposits at several Malagasy paleontological sites that contain dog and livestock bones along with butchered bones of extinct megafauna and extant lemurs. Dogs on Madagascar have had a wide range of diets during the past millennium, but relatively high stable carbon isotope values suggest few individuals relied primarily on forest bushmeat. Our newly generated data suggest that dogs were part of a suite of animal introductions beginning over a millennium ago that coincided with widespread landscape transformation and megafaunal extinction.

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“…Roughly 200 mg of each specimen was processed for radiocarbon and stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope analysis. Collagen was isolated following methods modified from Fox-Dobbs et al (2008) and Sparks and Crowley (2018). Samples were demineralized in 0.5 N hydrochloric acid at 4°C and rinsed five times with ultrapure water.…”

Section: Location and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subfossil lemur discoveries from the Beanka Protected Area in western Madagascar

et al. 2019

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A new fossil site in a previously unexplored part of western Madagascar (the Beanka Protected Area) has yielded remains of many recently extinct vertebrates, including giant lemurs (Babakotia radofilai, Palaeopropithecus kelyus, Pachylemur sp., and Archaeolemur edwardsi), carnivores (Cryptoprocta spelea), the aardvark-like Plesiorycteropus sp., and giant ground cuckoos (Coua). Many of these represent considerable range extensions. Extant species that were extirpated from the region (e.g., Prolemur simus) are also present. Calibrated radiocarbon ages for 10 bones from extinct primates span the last three millennia. The largely undisturbed taphonomy of bone deposits supports the interpretation that many specimens fell in from a rock ledge above the entrance. Some primates and other mammals may have been prey items of avian predators, but human predation is also evident. Strontium isotope ratios ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) suggest that fossils were local to the area. Pottery sherds and bones of extinct and extant vertebrates with cut and chop marks indicate human activity in previous centuries. Scarcity of charcoal and human artifacts suggests only occasional visitation to the site by humans. The fossil assemblage from this site is unusual in that, while it contains many sloth lemurs, it lacks ratites, hippopotami, and crocodiles typical of nearly all other Holocene subfossil sites on Madagascar.

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Where did people forage in prehistoric Trinidad? Testing the utility of a multi-isotope approach for tracking the origins of terrestrial prey

Cited by 5 publications

References 78 publications

A new late Pleistocene subfossil site (Tsaramody, Sambaina basin, central Madagascar) with implications for the chronology of habitat and megafaunal community change on Madagascar's Central Highlands

A new late Pleistocene subfossil site (Tsaramody, Sambaina basin, central Madagascar) with implications for the chronology of habitat and megafaunal community change on Madagascar's Central Highlands

Ecological Consequences of a Millennium of Introduced Dogs on Madagascar

Subfossil lemur discoveries from the Beanka Protected Area in western Madagascar

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