XXIV Congress of the International Primatological Society
S. B. Cooke1, P. Lehman2 and R. RÃ#moli3
1Duke University, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, 130 Science Drive, Box 90383, Durham, NC 27708, USA, 2Dominican Republic Speleological Society, 3Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), Ciudad Universitaria, Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana
Because of the scarcity of terrestrial sediments in Hispaniola, paleontologists have focused on caves and sinkholes as potential discovery sites. The Museo del Hombre Dominicano in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic Speleological Society, and Brooklyn College have begun to survey underwater caves, many of which were once dry as indicated by the presence of stalactites and stalagmites, to document and to collect paleontological remains. This video essay is a progress report. Our work focuses on the eastern portion of the island, a karst terrain replete with submerged caverns, where the first extinct Dominican primate, Antillothrix bernensis, was excavated. These caves can be remarkably rich in vertebrates; to date, thousands of specimens have been recovered including fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals representing all major groups known from Hispaniola: insectivores, bats, sloths, rodents, and primates. The taphonomic and depositional environments that led to these large accumulations are still understudy, but it seems that several processes are at work including: bone accumulations as a result of large raptors, natural roosting behaviors in bats, as well as the possibility that animals may have entered the caves of their own volition. Our ongoing work will explore, map and collect on behalf of the Dominican Republic, and reach out to the public through educational programs in an effort to preserve and protect these precious and precarious resources for posterity.
https://www.asp.org/ips/ips2012/abst...nfEventID=3678
