Worthy Park I Cave (Pleistocene of Jamaica)

Where: Saint Catherine, Jamaica (18.1° N, 77.1° W: paleocoordinates 18.1° N, 77.1° W)

When: Middle Pleistocene (0.8 - 0.1 Ma)

• A 34 g sample of clean flowstone directly overlying the bone breccia was selected for uranium-thorium disequilibrium dating by alpha counting. The sample showed no evidence of recrystallization or secondary alteration. It yielded an age of 174,000 yrBP with a one sigma error of + 13,000/- 2,000 yr (234U/238U: 1.0239 ± 0.0190; 230Th/234U: 0.8028 ± 0233; U concentration: 0.3 ppm) (McFarlane et al. 1998).

Environment/lithology: cave; lithology not reported

• The Worthy Park I breccia is comprised of a flood deposited cave mud that has been heavily indurated by secondary calcite deposition. The material is plastered onto the walls of the entrance chamber, and has been subsequently incorporated and partially obscured by extensive flowstone growth (McFarlane et al. 1998).

Size class: macrofossils

Primary reference: D. A. McFarlane, J. Lundberg, C. Flemming, R. D. E. MacPhee, and S. E. Lauritzen. 1998. A Second Pre-Wisconsinan Locality for the Extinct Jamaican Rodent Clidomys (Rodentia: Heptaxodontidae). Caribbean Journal of Science 34(3):315-317 [J. Carrillo/K. Pino]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 235212: authorized by Juan Carrillo, entered by Kateryn Pino on 10.06.2024

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Heptaxodontidae
Clidomys osborni
Clidomys osborni Anthony 1920 caviomorph