Title

West Indian Monkeys: New Fossils and Interpretations

Document Type

Article

Department

Biology (CMC), WM Keck Science (CMC), Biology (Pitzer), WM Keck Science (Pitzer), Biology (Scripps), WM Keck Science (Scripps), WM Keck Science

Publication Date

1994

Abstract

The first new fossils of Xenothrix mcgregori discovered in 70 years--a femur and a humerus--were found by an AMNH expedition in caves at Jackson's Bay on the south coast of Jamaica in August, 1993. These finds closely resemble specimens from Long Mile Cave previously allocated to Xenothrix by MacPhee and Fieagle (Bull. Amer. Mus. Mar. Hisr. 206: 287-321 [1991]), and help to support the argument that this primate was a slow quadruped. The new material comes from the driest part of the island, which currently supports xerophytic bush rather than humid forest. Since there is evidence that this region was wetter in the past (?middle Holocene), human arrival may not have been the only stress factor pushing Jamaican mammals to extinction.

Comments

Abstract only. Included in abstracts of papers presented at the sixty-third annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists Denver, Colorado March 30–April 2, 1994.

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

COinS