Where: San Salvador, Bahamas (23.9° N, 74.6° W: paleocoordinates 23.9° N, 74.6° W)
• coordinate estimated from map
When: Late/Upper Pleistocene to Late/Upper Pleistocene (0.1 - 0.0 Ma)
• The depth from ground level to the sediment floor is 9.7 m (32 feet), the floor being roughly circular, with a diameter of about 7 m, the opening at the surface being smaller. The bottom of the pit is considerably overhung by what appears to be the remains of a higher floor, suggesting that an earlier sink formed that later collapsed into one beneath it
Environment/lithology: sinkhole; lime mudstone
Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils
Preservation: bone collector
Reposited in the USNM
Collection methods: surface (in situ), sieve,
• The floor underneath an overhang on the north wall was the site of a recent Barn Owl (Tyto alba) roost, with prey remains from regurgitated pellets scattered about the surface and into the loose, organic surface sediment. We collected these remains and dug three trenches and two additional test pits in the sediments of the floor. Sediment was passed through one quarter inch mesh and window screen.
Primary reference: S. L. Olson, G. K. Pregill, and W. B. Hilgartner. 1990. Studies on Fossil and Extant Vertebrates from San Salvador (Watling's) Island, Bahamas. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 508:1-24 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]more details
Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis
PaleoDB collection 190743: authorized by Evangelos Vlachos, entered by Evangelos Vlachos on 16.12.2017
Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)
Taxonomic list
Mammalia | |
Macrotus waterhousii Gray 1843 leaf-nosed bat
Erophylla sezekorni Gundlach 1861 leaf-nosed bat | |
Natalus tumidifrons funnel-eared bat | |
Eptesicus fuscus Beauvois 1796 big brown bat | |
Mus musculus Linnaeus 1758 house mouse
Rattus sp. Fischer 1803 rat | |
Reptilia | |
Anolis distichus anole
Anolis sagrei Dumeril and Bibron 1837 Brown anole | |
Leiocephalus loxogrammus curly-tailed lizard
Cyclura rileyi rock iguana | |
Emydidae indet. Rafinesque 1815 turtle | |
Testudinidae indet. Batsch 1788 turtle | |
Aves | |
Arenaria interpres Linnaeus 1758 ruddy turnstone | |
Anous stolidus, "Sterna cf. fuscata" = Onychoprion fuscatus
Anous stolidus Linnaeus 1758 brown noddy
"Sterna cf. fuscata" = Onychoprion fuscatus Linnaeus 1766 sooty tern | |
cf. Gallus gallus Linnaeus 1758 chicken | |
Puffinus lherminieri Lesson 1839 Audubon's shearwater | |
Nycticorax nycticorax Linnaeus 1758 black-crowned night heron
"Ardeola virescens" = Butorides virescens Linnaeus 1758 green heron
Ixobrychus exilis Gmelin 1789 least bittern | |
Vireo sp. Vieillot 1808 vireo
Vireo crassirostris Bryant 1859 thick-billed vireo | |
Mimus gundlachii Cabanis 1855 Bahama mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos Linnaeus 1758 northern mockingbird
Dumetella carolinensis Linnaeus 1766 gray catbird
Margarops fuscatus Vieillot 1808 pearly-eyed thrasher | |
Tyrannus dominicensis Gmelin 1788 gray kingbird | |
Tiaris bicolor Linnaeus 1766 black-faced grassquit
Coereba flaveola Linnaeus 1758 bananaquit | |
Passerina caerulea Linnaeus 1758 blue grosbeak | |
Parulidae spp., "Seiurus aurocapillus" = Seiurus aurocapilla, "Dendroica sp." = Setophaga, "Dendroica petechia" = Setophaga petechia
Parulidae spp. Wetmore et al. 1947 perching bird
"Seiurus aurocapillus" = Seiurus aurocapilla Linnaeus 1766 ovenbird
"Dendroica sp." = Setophaga Swainson 1827 perching bird
"Dendroica petechia" = Setophaga petechia Linnaeus 1766 yellow warbler | |
Rallus longirostris Boddaert 1783 mangrove rail
Porzana carolina Linnaeus 1758 sora | |
Coccyzus cf. minor Gmelin 1788 mangrove cuckoo | |
Zenaida cf. aurita Temminck 1809 zenaida dove
Zenaida macroura Linnaeus 1758 mourning dove
Columbina passerina Linnaeus 1758 common ground-dove | |
Tyto alba Scopoli 1769 barn owl | |
Cathartes aura Linnaeus 1758 turkey vulture | |
Amphibia | |
Osteopilus septentrionalis Dumétil and Bibron 1841 tree frog |