Patton's Fissure, Cayman Brac (Pleistocene of Cayman Islands)

Where: Cayman Islands (19.8° N, 79.7° W: paleocoordinates 19.8° N, 79.8° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

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

• Recently we dated three samples of land snails from Patton's Fissure, using the single-species methodology of radiocarbon age determination on land snails developed for Jamaican species. Our samples of Caymanian snails (Hemitrochus caymanensis) should provide a fairly accurate estimate of the age of Patton's Fissure, for H. caymanensis is an arboreal snail that does not feed on the ground. Therefore, this species should incorporate little if any "dead carbon" into its shell through ingestion of limestone. The age determinations are (in years BP, with lab number): 11,180 ± 105 (Layer 5,SI-6518); 13,230 ± 135 (Layer 7, SI-65 19); and 13,850 ± 135 (Layer 9, SI-6520).

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: fissure fill; carbonate

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the FMNH

Primary reference: D. W. Steadman and O. M. Takano. 2016. A new extinct species of Snipe (Aves: Scolopacidae: Gallinago) from the West Indies. Zootaxa 4109:345-358 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 209851: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 16.05.2020, edited by Mark Uhen

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Aves
 Procellariiformes - Procellariidae
Puffinus lherminieri Lesson 1839 Audubon's shearwater
 Passeriformes - Icteridae
cf. Icterus sp. Brisson 1760 New World oriole
 Passeriformes - Hirundinidae
"Hirundo fulva" = Petrochelidon fulva
"Hirundo fulva" = Petrochelidon fulva Vieillot 1808 cave swallow
 Passeriformes - Tyrannidae
Elaenia martinica Linnaeus 1766 tyrant flycatcher
Tyrannus caudifasciatus d'Orbigny 1839 loggerhead kingbird
Tyrannus dominicensis Gmelin 1788 gray kingbird
 Passeriformes - Thraupidae
Coereba flaveola Linnaeus 1758 bananaquit
Melopyrrha latirostris Steadman and Morgan 1985 perching bird
Melopyrrha nigra Linnaeus 1758 perching bird
 Passeriformes - Spindalidae
Spindalis zena Linnaeus 1758 western spindalis
 Gruiformes - Rallidae
Porzana carolina Linnaeus 1758 sora
 Strigiformes - Strigidae
Athene cunicularia Molina 1782 burrowing owl
 Piciformes - Picidae
Colaptes auratus Linnaeus 1758 northern flicker
 Columbiformes - Columbidae
Columbina passerina Linnaeus 1758 common ground-dove
"Columba inornata" = Patagioenas inornata Vigors 1827 plain pigeon
"Columba leucocephala" = Patagioenas leucocephala Linnaeus 1758 white-crowned pigeon
Geotrygon cf. chrysia Bonaparte 1855 Key West quail-dove
 Cuculiformes - Cuculidae
Coccyzus minor Gmelin 1788 mangrove cuckoo
 Charadriiformes - Charadriidae
Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus 1758 killdeer
 Charadriiformes - Scolopacidae
"Capella sp." = Gallinago, Gallinago kakuki
"Capella sp." = Gallinago Brisson 1760 snipe
Gallinago kakuki Steadman and Takano 2016 snipe
Reptilia
 Squamata - Polychrotidae
Anolis sagrei Dumeril and Bibron 1837 Brown anole
 Squamata - Iguanidae
Cyclura nubila Gray 1831 rock iguana
 Squamata - Gekkonidae
Aristelliger praesignis Hallowell 1856 croacking gecko
 Squamata - Anguidae
Celestus crusculus Garman 1887 Garman's galliwasp
 Squamata - Typhlopidae
Typhlops epactius Thomas 1968 blind snake
 Squamata - Boidae
Tropidophis caymanensis Battersby 1938 boa
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Capromyidae
Geocapromys sp. Chapman 1901 hutia
Capromys sp. Desmarest 1822 hutia
 Theriamorpha - Nesophontidae
Nesophontes sp. Anthony 1916 placental
 Chiroptera - Phyllostomidae
Phyllonycteris poeyi Gundlach 1860 leaf-nosed bat
Brachyphylla nana Miller 1902 fruit-eating bat
Macrotus waterhousii Gray 1843 leaf-nosed bat