Pisonia rockshelter, layer IV, Aguiguan (Holocene of Northern Mariana Islands)

Where: Northern Mariana Islands (14.9° N, 145.6° E: paleocoordinates 14.9° N, 145.6° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Holocene (0.0 - 0.0 Ma)

• Layers II-IV are pottery-rich, prehistoric cultural deposits spanning more than a millennium

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: fissure fill; lithology not reported

Size class: macrofossils

• Essentially all non-human bones from Layer IV are burned, providing clear evidence of human cookery

Preservation: anthropogenic

Collected by D.W. Steadman, C.C. Bodner, S.R. Derrickson, J.D. Groves, D.S. Lee in 1994

Primary reference: D. W. Steadman. 1999. The prehistory of vertebrates, especially birds, on Tinian, Aguiguan, and Rota, Northern Mariana Islands. Micronesica 31:319-345 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 194643: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 24.06.2018

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Aves
 Suliformes - Fregatidae
Fregata ariel Gray 1845 Lesser frigatebird
 Columbiformes - Columbidae
Columbidae indet. Illiger 1811 dove
Ptilinopus roseicapilla Lesson 1831 Mariana fruit-dove
"Gallicolumba xanthonura" = Alopecoenas xanthonurus Temminck 1823 white-throated ground-dove
 Gruiformes - Rallidae
Rallidae indet. Vigors 1825 rail
Gallirallus sp. Lafresnaye 1841 rail
Porzana sp. Vieillot 1816 rail
 Passeriformes -
Passeriformes indet. Linnaeus 1758 perching bird
 Passeriformes - Meliphagidae
"Myzomela rubrata" = Myzomela rubratra
"Myzomela rubrata" = Myzomela rubratra Lesson 1827 Micronesian myzomela
 Passeriformes - Sturnidae
Aplonis opaca Kittlitz 1833 Micronesian starling
 Passeriformes - Zosteropidae
Zosterops conspicillatus Kittlitz 1833 bridled white-eye
 Charadriiformes - Charadriidae
Pluvialis fulva Gmelin 1789 Pacific golden-plover
 Charadriiformes - Laridae
"Gygis candida" = Gygis alba candida Gmelin 1789 Pacific white tern
Anous stolidus Linnaeus 1758 brown noddy
 Galliformes - Megapodiidae
Megapodius laperouse Gaimard 1823 Micronesian scrubfowl
Reptilia
 Squamata -
Squamata indet. Oppel 1811 squamates
Mammalia
 Chiroptera - Pteropodidae
Pteropus sp. Brisson 1762 flying fox
 Primates - Hominidae
Homo sapiens Linnaeus 1758 human