Tag Archives: Île de la Gonâve

Nesophontes hypomicrus Miller

Atalaye Nesophontes (Nesophontes hypomicrus 

The Atalaye Nesophontes was described in 1929 on the basis of subfossil bones that were found on the island of Hispaniola and on the small offshore Île de la Gonâve.  

The species disappeared at about 1175 to 1295 A.D. or probably even later, since some of its remains were found together with bones of rats (Rattus spp.) which were introduced to the Caribbean by Europeans only in the 15th century.  

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References:  

[1] Gary S. Morgan; Charles A. Woods: Extinction and the zoogeography of West Indian land mammals. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 28(1-2): 167-203. 1986 
[2] R. D. E. MacPhee; Clare Flemming; Darrin P. Lunde: “Last occurrence” of the Antillean insectivoran Nesophontes: new radiometric dates and their interpretation. American Museum Novitates 3261: 1-20. 1999 
[3] Donald A. McFarlane; Abel Vale; Keith Christenson; Joyce Lundberg; Gabriel Atilles; Stein-Erik Lauritzen: New Specimens of Late Quaternary Extinct Mammals from Caves in Sanchez Ramirez Province, Dominican Republic. Caribbean Journal of Science 36: 163-166. 2000

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edited: 13.09.2020

Isolobodon portoricensis Allen

Puerto Rican Hutia (Isolobodon portoricensis 

The Puerto Rican Hutia was described on the basis of remains found in aboriginal midden remains on the island of Puerto Rico.  

The species, however, was actually native only to the island of Hispaniola, perhaps including some small offshore islands, this is known from fossil remains that were found at sites without anthropogenic relations  

The Puerto Rican Hutia was imported by the natives to other islands for nutrition purposes, and indeed all bone remains of this species found outside the island of Hispaniola were found in the litter of former natives settlements.  

The species disappeared at around 1280 to 1425 A.D..  

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References:  

[1] Storrs L. Olson: Fossil Vertebrates from the Bahamas. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 48. 1982 
[2] Clare Flemming; R. D. E. MacPhee: Redetermination of holotype of Isolobodon portoricensis (Rodentia, Capromyidae), with notes on recent mammalian extinctions in Puerto Rico. American Museum Novitates 3278: 1-11. 1999 
[3] Donald A. McFarlane; Abel Vale; Keith Christenson; Joyce Lundberg; Gabriel Atilles; Stein-Erik Lauritzen: New specimens of Late Quaternary extinct mammals from caves in Sanchez Ramirez Province, Dominican Republic. Caribbean Journal of Science 36: 163-166. 2000  

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cranium

Photo from: ‘Gerrit S. Miller, Jr.: Bones of mammals from Indian sites in Cuba and Santo Domingo. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 66(12): 1-10. 1916’ 

(public domain)

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edited: 06.09.2019