Banana Hole (USNM collection) (Pleistocene to of Bahamas)

Where: New Providence Island, Bahamas (25.0° N, 77.5° W: paleocoordinates 25.0° N, 77.5° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Late/Upper Pleistocene to Late/Upper Pleistocene (0.1 - 0.0 Ma)

• The age of the fossil deposit in Banana Hole is uncertain, although the strong representation of arid-adapted species of birds identified by Brodkorb (1959), Olson and Hilgartner (1982), and herein suggests that the fossils probably date to the late Pleistocene. In May 2016, we attempted to radiocarbon (14C) date 2 femora of the rodent G. ingrahami from Banana Hole at Beta Analytic Inc., but neither specimen (Beta432277, 432278) had enough collagen to yield results. A 14C date (Beta-24481) of 7,980 +/- 230 yr BP was reported by Morgan (1989) based on collagen extracted from an unknown number of bones of G. ingrahami from Banana

•Hole. When calendrically calibrated (using OxCal13), this 14C date is 9,437 to 8,400 Cal BP (calibrated years before present; 95.4% confidence).

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: sinkhole; limestone

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collected by William Hanon, Storrs Olson, Helen F. James, Frederick V. Grady, and Charles A. Meister in 1978; reposited in the USNM

Primary reference: G. K. Pregill. 1982. Fossil Amphibians and Reptiles from New Providence Island, Bahamas. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 48:8-21 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 144649: authorized by Philip Mannion, entered by Philip Mannion on 14.05.2013, edited by Richard Hulbert and Matthew Clapham

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Amphibia
 Salientia - Eleutherodactylidae
Eleutherodactylus cf. planirostris Cope 1862 frog
87 ilia (USNM 283410, UF 3002); 3 maxillae (USNM 283411); 1 premaxilla (USNM 283411); 1 squamosal (USNM 283411); 16 mandibles (USNM 283412); 14 scapulae (USNM 283413, UF 3002); 21 vertebrae (USNM 283414)
 Salientia - Hylidae
Osteopilus septentrionalis Dumétil and Bibron 1841 tree frog
76 ilia (USNM 283415, UF 2996, and 29 uncataloged); 25 maxillae (USNM 283416, UF 2996, and 4 uncataloged); 18 premaxillae (USNM 283417); 27 squamosals (USNM 283418, UF 2996); 15 sphenethmoids (USNM 283418, UF 2996, and 10 uncataloged); 1 parasphenoid (USNM 283418); 3 basicrania (UF 2996); 73 mandibles (USNM 283419, UF 2996); 60 scapulae (USNM 283420, UF 2996, and 25 uncataloged); 118 vertebrae (USNM 283421, UF 2996, and 62 uncataloged).
Reptilia
 Squamata - Boidae
Tropidophis canus boa
1 dentary (USNM 283447); 70 vertebrae (USNM 283448, UF 3001, and 27 uncataloged)
Epicrates striatus rainbow boa
2 dentaries (USNM 283445); 153 vertebrae (USNM 283446, UF 2995, and 133 uncataloged)
 Squamata - Typhlopidae
Typhlops sp. Oppel 1811 blind snake
3 midbody vertebrae (USNM 283444)
 Squamata - Dipsadidae
"Alsophis vudii" = Cubophis vudii
"Alsophis vudii" = Cubophis vudii Cope 1862 snake
34 vertebrae (USNM 283449, UF 3001, and 13 uncataloged)
 Squamata - Gekkonidae
Sphaerodactylus sp. Wagler 1830 round-fingered gecko
1 frontal (USNM 283423)
Aristelliger sp. Cope 1861 croacking gecko
15 dentaries (USNM 283422, UF 10179-10180); 5 maxillae (USNM 283422, UF 10181); 2 premaxillae (USNM 283422)
 Squamata - Iguanidae
Cyclura sp. Harlan 1824 rock iguana
2 dentaries (USNM 283440); 2 articulars (USNM 283441); 2 fragments of maxillae (USNM 283441); 2 quadrates (USNM 283441); 1 parietal (USNM 283441); 1 vertebra (USNM 283441)
Leiocephalus cf. carinatus Gray 1827 Northern curlytail lizard
17 dentaries (USNM 283442, UF 10175); 13 maxillae (USNM 283442, UF 10173, UF 10176); 1 premaxilla (USNM 283442); 4 frontals (USNM 283442, UF 10177)
 Squamata - Polychrotidae
Anolis distichus anole
269 dentaries (USNM 283425, UF 2999, UF 10137, and 8 uncataloged); 116 maxillae (USNM 283426, UF 10135-10136, and 3 uncataloged); 33 frontals (USNM 283427, UF 10138)
Anolis cf. smaragdinus anole
112 dentaries (USNM 283432, UF 10140-10142, and 4 uncataloged); 19 maxillae (USNM 283443, UF 10144); 3 frontals (USNM 283434)
Anolis sp. Daudin 1802 anole
39 articular + surangulars (USNM 283435); 10 jugals (USNM 283436); 2 postorbitals (USNM 283436); 3 basisphenoids (USNM 283437); 4 quadrates (USNM 283437); 57 pelves (USNM 283438); 65 vertebrae (USNM 283439)
Anolis angusticeps Smith et al. 1968 Chiapas ornate anole
12 dentaries (USNM 283424); 1 maxilla (USNM 283424); 1 premaxilla (USNM 283424)
Anolis sagrei Dumeril and Bibron 1837 Brown anole
823 dentaries (USNM 283428-283429, UF 10149-10151, and 58 uncataloged); 359 maxillae (USNM 283430, UF 10152-10154, and 38 uncataloged); 4 premaxillae (USNM 283430, 2 UF uncataloged); 206 frontals (USNM 283431, UF 10161-10162)
 Squamata - Teiidae
Ameiva auberi Cocteau 1838 Cuban groundlizard
3 dentaries (USNM 283443); 2 maxillae (USNM 283443); 3 pelves (USNM 283443)
Aves
 Charadriiformes - Scolopacidae
"Capella sp." = Gallinago2
"Capella sp." = Gallinago2 Brisson 1760 snipe
 Charadriiformes - Burhinidae
Burhinus nanus2 Brodkorb 1959 Bahama thick-knee
Burhinus bistriatus nanus
 Pelecaniformes - Ardeidae
Nyctanassa violacea2 Linnaeus 1758 yellow-crowned night heron
 Cuculiformes - Cuculidae
Saurothera merlini2 d'Orbigny 1839 great lizard-cuckoo
 Columbiformes - Columbidae
Columbidae indet.2 Illiger 1811 dove
Geotrygon chrysia2 Bonaparte 1855 Key West quail-dove
Zenaida aurita2 Temminck 1809 zenaida dove
"Columba leucocephala" = Patagioenas leucocephala2 Linnaeus 1758 white-crowned pigeon
"Columba squamosa" = Patagioenas squamosa2 Bonnaterre 1792 scaly-naped pigeon
 Psittaciformes - Psittacidae
"Amazona leucocephala" = Psittacus leucocephalus2
"Amazona leucocephala" = Psittacus leucocephalus2 Linnaeus 1758 Cuban parrot
 Piciformes - Picidae
Melanerpes superciliaris2 Temminck 1827 West Indian woodpecker
 Strigiformes - Strigidae
Athene cunicularia2 Molina 1782 burrowing owl
 Strigiformes - Tytonidae
Tyto alba2 Scopoli 1769 barn owl
Tyto pollens2 Wetmore 1937 Bahama barn owl
 Caprimulgiformes - Trochilidae
Trochilidae indet.2 Vigors 1825 hummingbird
Chlorostilbon ricordii2 Gervais 1835 Cuban emerald
 Caprimulgiformes - Caprimulgidae
Chordeiles sp.2 Swainson 1832 nightjar
 Passeriformes - Tyrannidae
Myiarchus sagrae2 Gundlach 1852 La Sagra's flycatcher
 Passeriformes - Spindalidae
Spindalis zena2 Linnaeus 1758 western spindalis
 Passeriformes - Parulidae
"Dendroica spp." = Setophaga2
"Dendroica spp." = Setophaga2 Swainson 1827 perching bird
 Passeriformes - Corvidae
Corvus palmarum2 Württemburg 1835 palm crow
Corvus nasicus2 Temminck 1826 Cuban crow
 Passeriformes - Turdidae
Turdus plumbeus2 Linnaeus 1758 red-legged thrush
 Passeriformes - Thraupidae
Coereba flaveola2 Linnaeus 1758 bananaquit
 Passeriformes - Mimidae
Mimus gundlachii2 Cabanis 1855 Bahama mockingbird
 Passeriformes - Icteridae
Sturnella sp.2 Vieillot 1816 meadowlark
 Accipitriformes - Accipitridae
Accipiter striatus2 Vieillot 1897 sharp-shinned hawk
ssp. velox
Buteo lineatus1 Gmelin 1788 red-shouldered hawk
right humerus (UF 41801)
 Falconiformes - Falconidae
Falco sparverius2, "Polyborus creightoni" = Caracara creightoni2
Falco sparverius2 Linnaeus 1758 American kestrel
"Polyborus creightoni" = Caracara creightoni2 Brodkorb 1959 Creighton's caracara
Reptilia
 Crocodylia - Crocodylidae
cf. Crocodylus sp. Laurenti 1768 crocodile
1 vertebral fragment (UF 2994)
 Testudines - Testudinidae
Geochelone sp. Fitzinger 1835 turtle