scholarly journals Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-53
Author(s):  
S. Blair Hedges ◽  
Robert Powell ◽  
Robert W. Henderson ◽  
Sarah Hanson ◽  
John C. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Biological Study ◽  
Population Densities ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Biogeographic Region ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Conservation Threats

To facilitate biological study we define “Caribbean Islands” as a biogeographic region that includes the Antilles, the Bahamas, and islands bordering Central and South America separated from mainland areas by at least 20 meters of water depth. The advantages of this definition are that it captures nearly all islands with endemic species and with at least some Antillean-derived species, and still circumscribes a region of high biodiversity and biogeographic significance. We argue that Caribbean islands, in this expanded sense, are also cohesive from a conservation standpoint in that they share high human population densities and similar conservation threats. A disadvantage of this definition, strictly applied, is that it includes some islands (e.g., Trinidad) that have mostly mainland species. However, we propose that researchers can increase the stringency of the definition so that it is less inclusive, and make comparisons between different definitions as needed. We provide an updated checklist with standardized common English names for the 1,013 species of amphibians and reptiles occurring in the region, along with principles for constructing common names.

scholarly journals A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Fernandes ◽  
Kendra A. Sirak ◽  
Harald Ringbauer ◽  
Jakob Sedig ◽  
Nadin Rohland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Population Size Estimates ◽  
Ceramic Age ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean

Humans settled the Caribbean ~6,000 years ago, with intensified agriculture and ceramic use marking a shift from the Archaic Age to the Ceramic Age ~2,500 years ago. To shed new light on the history of Caribbean people, we report genome-wide data from 184 individuals predating European contact from The Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Curaçao, and northwestern Venezuela. A largely homogeneous ceramic-using population most likely originating in northeastern South America and related to present-day Arawak-speaking groups moved throughout the Caribbean at least 1,800 years ago, spreading ancestry that is still detected in parts of the region today. These people eventually almost entirely replaced Archaic-related lineages in Hispaniola but not in northwestern Cuba, where unadmixed Archaic-related ancestry persisted into the last millennium. We document high mobility and inter-island connectivity throughout the Ceramic Age as reflected in relatives buried ~75 kilometers apart in Hispaniola and low genetic differentiation across many Caribbean islands, albeit with subtle population structure distinguishing the Bahamian islands we studied from the rest of the Caribbean and from each other, and long-term population continuity in southeastern coastal Hispaniola differentiating this region from the rest of the island. Ceramic-associated people avoided close kin unions despite limited mate pools reflecting low effective population sizes (2Ne=1000-2000) even at sites on the large Caribbean islands. While census population sizes can be an order of magnitude larger than effective population sizes, pan-Caribbean population size estimates of hundreds of thousands are likely too large. Transitions in pottery styles show no evidence of being driven by waves of migration of new people from mainland South America; instead, they more likely reflect the spread of ideas and people within an interconnected Caribbean world.

scholarly journals Risk Modeling of Bat Rabies in the Caribbean Islands

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Clint N. Morgan ◽  
Ryan M. Wallace ◽  
Alexandra Vokaty ◽  
Janine F.R. Seetahal ◽  
Yoshinori J. Nakazawa
Keyword(s):  
Pairwise Comparison ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Risk Modeling ◽  
Cayman Islands ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Bat Rabies

Rabies surveillance and control measures vary significantly between Caribbean islands. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends certain groups of U.S. travelers to any Caribbean island receive pre-exposure rabies immunization. However, most islands self-declare as “rabies free”, and have never publicly released data to support rabies-free claims. We used the Analytic Hierarchy Process to create pairwise comparison values among five risk factors determined by subject matter experts. Risk factor weights were calculated and used in a geospatial analysis to calculate a risk value for each island nation (higher values indicate higher risk). Risk values ranged from 8.73 (Trinidad) to 1.57 (The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands). All four countries that have documented occurrences of laboratory confirmed rabid bats were ranked highest (Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Cuba, Dominican Republic), as well as Haiti. The top five highest risk countries that currently have no reports of bat rabies include St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Cayman Islands, and Dominica. This study reviews the inter-island movement potential of bats, designates areas of high risk for bat-associated rabies within the Caribbean islands, and demonstrates a need for further surveillance efforts in bat populations within islands that self-declare as rabies free.

scholarly journals Reproductive biology of Cabot's Terns on Cardos Island, Santa Catarina, Brazil

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 75-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélio Augusto Alves Fracasso ◽  
Joaquim Olinto Branco ◽  
Edison Barbieri
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Incubation Time ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Nesting Success ◽  
Santa Catarina ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
The Caribbean

Cabot's Terns Thalasseus acuflavidus (Latham, 1737) are widely distributed along the Atlantic coast of South America from the Caribbean Islands (12º S) to the region of Porto Deseado, Argentina (46º S). Daily observations were conducted on the Cardos Island during 2003, 2005 and 2006 to determine timing and nesting success, and the reproductive biology of the Cabot's Terns nesting there. The first adults arrived at the colony from 22 April to 15 May during the three years recorded; a total of 144 nests were recorded in 2003, 174 in 2005 and 50 in 2006. Observed incubation time was 24.1 ± 0.35 days, and mean egg size was 5.15 ± 0.02 cm in length and 34.30 ± 0.25 g in weight. Hatching success was lowest in 2003 and highest in 2006, with natural causes (such as nest abandonment, flooding, inter and intra-specific fight) being the main cause of loss. The first eggs hatched in July in 2003, and in June in 2005 and 2006. Overall nesting success was lowest (4.00%) in 2006 and much higher (36.1% and 27.01%, respectively) in 2003 and 2005.

Four Hundred Years On: The Public Commemoration of the Founding of the VOC in 2002

Itinerario ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Blussé
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
South Asia ◽  
American Continent ◽  
The Public ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
International Awareness

In our Age of the Discovery of Space, many people still enjoy commemorating the Age of Global Exploration and Discovery. In 1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus' epic voyage to the Caribbean islands off the American continent was celebrated in Spain and America, and in 1998 and 2000 Portugal also commemorated its Age of Descobrimentos in Africa, South America and Asia. Various campaigns are underway in China to celebrate in 2004 the 600th (!) anniversary of the great expeditions by Admiral Zheng Ho to South Asia and Africa. Most of these festivities, meant to foster international awareness in the current Age of Globalisation, have met with mixed reactions among the peoples who were ‘discovered’.

scholarly journals The taxonomic status of Myotis nesopolus larensis (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) and new insights on the diversity of Caribbean Myotis

ZooKeys ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1015 ◽  
pp. 145-167
Author(s):  
Roberto Leonan M. Novaes ◽  
Vinícius C. Cláudio ◽  
Roxanne J. Larsen ◽  
Don E. Wilson ◽  
Marcelo Weksler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Haplotype Network ◽  
Netherlands Antilles ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectories ◽  
Paraphyletic Group ◽  
The Caribbean

Myotis nesopolus currently comprises two subspecies. The nominate subspecies (M. n. nesopolus) occurs on the Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, whereas M. n. larensis is known from mainland South America in northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. Our Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic analyses of cytochrome-b gene sequences recovered M. nesopolus as a paraphyletic group, with M. n. nesopolus and M. n. larensis as non-sister lineages. The haplotype network indicates that these two subspecies do not share any haplotypes and are in different evolutionary trajectories. Additionally, these two subspecies can be distinguished on the basis of qualitative and quantitative morphological traits. This pattern supports the recognition of M. nesopolus and M. larensis as full species. Our results also reveal that the assemblage of Caribbean Myotis do not form a monophyletic group. Caribbean species are phylogenetically close to mainland species from northern South America and Central America, suggesting that colonization of Caribbean islands happened multiple times.

scholarly journals The Bahamas and the First Extensive Expedition, 1931-1932, of the USDA to the Caribbean Islands

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Raquel Chavarria ◽  
Brett Jestrow ◽  
Ethan Freid ◽  
Javier Francisco-Ortega
Keyword(s):  
The Bahamas ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
The Caribbean

scholarly journals Origins and genetic legacies of the Caribbean Taino

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (10) ◽  
pp. 2341-2346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Schroeder ◽  
Martin Sikora ◽  
Shyam Gopalakrishnan ◽  
Lara M. Cassidy ◽  
Pierpaolo Maisano Delser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
South America ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Ancient Dna ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Dna Preservation ◽  
Large Effective Population Size ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Northern South America

The Caribbean was one of the last parts of the Americas to be settled by humans, but how and when the islands were first occupied remains a matter of debate. Ancient DNA can help answering these questions, but the work has been hampered by poor DNA preservation. We report the genome sequence of a 1,000-year-old Lucayan Taino individual recovered from the site of Preacher’s Cave in the Bahamas. We sequenced her genome to 12.4-fold coverage and show that she is genetically most closely related to present-day Arawakan speakers from northern South America, suggesting that the ancestors of the Lucayans originated there. Further, we find no evidence for recent inbreeding or isolation in the ancient genome, suggesting that the Lucayans had a relatively large effective population size. Finally, we show that the native American components in some present-day Caribbean genomes are closely related to the ancient Taino, demonstrating an element of continuity between precontact populations and present-day Latino populations in the Caribbean.

Cybister (s. str.) poblanus sp. n. from Mexico and notes on other species of Cybistrinae (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5061 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-339
Author(s):  
ROBERTO ARCE-PÉREZ ◽  
RODOLFO NOVELO-GUTIÉRREZ ◽  
HANS FERY
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
North America ◽  
Male Genitalia ◽  
The Other ◽  
Key To Species ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
The Third ◽  
Great Size ◽  
The Caribbean

Cybister (s. str.) poblanus sp. n. is described from the Puebla state in Mexico. The species belongs to a group of members of the genus Cybister Curtis, 1827, which occur only in North America (including the Caribbean Islands) and are characterised by having several distinct ridges on the metacoxae (stridulatory organ) in males. The new species is the third of the genus reported for Mexico and the fourth for North America. It can easily be separated from its congeners by its great size and the shape of the male aedeagus. The habitus, the male genitalia and other details of C. poblanus sp. n. are illustrated and photographs of the male genitalia of the other three Cybister are given for comparison. Megadytes (Bifurcitus) lherminieri (Guérin-Méneville, 1829) and M. (B.) magnus Trémouilles & Bachmann, 1980 are the only other big species of subfamily Cybistrinae which occur in North America. They are externally similar to the new species and can easily be confused with it, hence the illustrations of their aedeagi to facilitate identification. A key to species is given for all species of Cybistrinae occurring in America north of Belize and Guatemala, including Cuba and the Bahamas. Lectotypes are designated for Cybister flavocinctus Aubé, 1838, Cybister explanatus var. fusculus Zimmermann, 1919, and Cybister (Megadytes) aubei Wilke, 1920. Notes are given on material of some Neotropical and Nearctic species of Cybister and Megadytes stored in different museums.  

scholarly journals Faces Divulge the Origins of Caribbean Prehistoric Inhabitants

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann H. Ross ◽  
William F. Keegan ◽  
Michael P. Pateman ◽  
Colleen B. Young
Keyword(s):  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Facial Morphology ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
First Peoples ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Competing Hypotheses ◽  
Intense Debate

AbstractThe origins of the first peoples to colonize the Caribbean Islands have been the subject of intense debate for over 30 years. Competing hypotheses have identified five separate migrations from the mainland with a separate debate concerning the colonization of The Bahamas. Significant differences in the facial morphology of the pre-Columbian inhabitants of Hispaniola and Cuba led to the present study of Lucayan skulls from The Bahamas. The goal was to determine which group the native Lucayans more closely resembled to resolve this long-standing dispute. The results indicate that they are related to groups from Hispaniola and Jamaica and not to Cuban inhabitants. This study clarified the larger picture of Caribbean migrations and supports evidence for a Carib invasion of the Greater Antilles around AD 800.

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