TY - JOUR
T1 - Anthropogenic Extinction Dominates Holocene Declines of West Indian Mammals
AU - Cooke, Siobhán B.
AU - Dávalos, Liliana M.
AU - Mychajliw, Alexis M.
AU - Turvey, Samuel T.
AU - Upham, Nathan S.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank members of the Dávalos lab for feedback and Arnaud Lenoble, Aurelien Royer, and Emmanuelle Stoetzel for help with the Marie Galante dates. S.B.C. was supported by an Explorers Fund Grant from the Explorers Club, a Professional Development Grant from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and National Science Foundation grant NSF-DDIG 0726134. L.M.D. was supported in part by National Science Foundation grant NSF DEB-1442142. A.M.M. was supported by a Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship and National Science Foundation grant NSF DEB-1600728. S.T.T. was supported by Royal Society University Research Fellowship UF130573. N.S.U. was supported by National Science Foundation grant NSF DEB-1441737. Data analyzed and presented here have been deposited in DRYAD and are available at http://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tj4p5.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright ©2017 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/11/2
Y1 - 2017/11/2
N2 - The extensive postglacial mammal losses in the West Indies provide an opportunity to evaluate extinction dynamics, but limited data have hindered our ability to test hypotheses. Here, we analyze the tempo and dynamics of extinction using a novel data set of faunal last-appearance dates and human first-appearance dates, demonstrating widespread overlap between humans and now-extinct native mammals. Humans arrived in four waves (Lithic, Archaic, Ceramic, and European), each associated with increased environmental impact. Large-bodied mammals and several bats were extinct by the Archaic, following protracted extinction dynamics perhaps reflecting habitat loss. Most small-bodied rodents and lipotyphlan insectivores survived the Ceramic, but extensive landscape transformation and the introduction of invasive mammals following European colonization caused further extinctions, leaving a threatened remnant fauna. Both large- and small-bodied nonvolant mammals disappeared, reflecting complex relationships between body size, ecology, and anthropogenic change. Extinct bats were generally larger species, paralleling declines from natural catastrophes.
AB - The extensive postglacial mammal losses in the West Indies provide an opportunity to evaluate extinction dynamics, but limited data have hindered our ability to test hypotheses. Here, we analyze the tempo and dynamics of extinction using a novel data set of faunal last-appearance dates and human first-appearance dates, demonstrating widespread overlap between humans and now-extinct native mammals. Humans arrived in four waves (Lithic, Archaic, Ceramic, and European), each associated with increased environmental impact. Large-bodied mammals and several bats were extinct by the Archaic, following protracted extinction dynamics perhaps reflecting habitat loss. Most small-bodied rodents and lipotyphlan insectivores survived the Ceramic, but extensive landscape transformation and the introduction of invasive mammals following European colonization caused further extinctions, leaving a threatened remnant fauna. Both large- and small-bodied nonvolant mammals disappeared, reflecting complex relationships between body size, ecology, and anthropogenic change. Extinct bats were generally larger species, paralleling declines from natural catastrophes.
KW - Caribbean
KW - Extinction
KW - Holocene
KW - Mammal
KW - Megafauna
KW - Quaternary
KW - West Indies
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U2 - 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316-022754
DO - 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316-022754
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85033242219
SN - 1543-592X
VL - 48
SP - 301
EP - 327
JO - Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics
JF - Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics
ER -