Evolution,diversity and interactions with past human populations of recently extinct Pholidoscelis lizards (Squamata: Teiidae) from the Guadeloupe Islands (French West-Indies) |
| |
| Authors: | Corentin Bochaton Renaud Boistel Sandrine Grouard Ivan Ineich Anne Tresset Salvador Bailon |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Laboratoire “Archéozoologie et Archéobotanique: Sociétés Pratiques et Environnements” UMR 7209 – CNRS, MNHN – Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités 55 rue Buffon, CP 56, Paris, France;2. Institut de Systématique, évolution, Biodiversité ISYEB – UMR 7205 – CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE – Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités 57 rue Cuvier, CP 30, Paris, France;3. Institut International de Paléoprimatologie et de Paléontologie Humaine – UMR 7262 – CNRS, Université de Poitiers, UFR SFA – Bat. B35 – 6 rue Michel Brunet – TSA 51106, Poitiers, France;4. Institut de Systématique, évolution, Biodiversité ISYEB – UMR 7205 – CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE – Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités 57 rue Cuvier, CP 30, Paris, France;5. Laboratoire “Histoire naturelle de l’Homme préhistorique” UMR 7194 – CNRS, MNHN, UPVD – Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France |
| |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to demonstrate how subfossil bone remains from Pleistocene and Holocene deposits can help to reconstruct the history of recently extinct taxa through the example of Pholidoscelis lizards from the Guadeloupe Islands in the French West Indies. To achieve this, we conducted a new anatomical and zooarchaeological study of fossil Pholidoscelis remains collected from 23 archaeological and paleontological deposits on the Guadeloupe Islands from which this genus is nowadays absent. Our results shed light on the past existence of large Pholidoscelis lizards on all the Guadeloupe islands but also on the difficulties of confident specific identification for these remains. Nevertheless, we suggest a possible past occurrence of the now extinct Pholidoscelis major on nearly all of the Guadeloupe islands. In addition, we identified a new Pholidoscelis species, Pholidoscelis turukaeraensis sp. nov., on Marie-Galante Island, where no Pholidoscelis lizards were previously reported. This new species underwent an increase in size after the end of the Pleistocene period, possibly due to reduced predation pressure. We also highlight the consumption of Pholidoscelis lizards by pre-Columbian Amerindians and the huge impact of European colonization, which led to the extinction of all these lizards in less than 300 years.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:15C39436-A083-483F-B35E-78807B606904 |
| |
| Keywords: | Extinction herpetology osteology paleontology pre-Columbian zooarchaeology |
|
|
